The human soul carries an innate savage evil within, which society keeps suppressed. However, this evil side tends to emerge in periods of isolation or when cultures clash. Throughout history, countless atrocious acts have occurred when different cultures interacted. The meeting of fundamentally distinct cultures often creates a fear of contamination and loss of one’s identity, forcing individuals to delve deeper into their true selves. This exploration frequently leads to a perceived madness among those yet to embark on this journey.
The Puritans embarked on a journey from Europe to find a new world that would accept their beliefs. However, they arrived in an unfamiliar land filled with indigenous Indian cultures, resulting in a clash of civilizations. This led some Puritans to lose their sanity and attempt to eradicate what they saw as evil, ultimately leading to the infamous Salem witch trials.
Similarly, Germany aimed to conquer Europe during World War II. As the Nazis gained power, they persecuted Jews in Germany, Austria, and Poland, resulting in the well-known Holocaust. This tragic event represents humanity’s darkest side in the twentieth century. Led by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi followers, raids were conducted in ghettos to capture and often exterminate Jews. While Jews were the primary targets of the Holocaust, other groups such as Slavs, Gypsies, homosexuals,Jehovah’s Witnesses,and Communists also suffered under Nazi rule.
Gas chambers and mass shootings accounted for most of these deaths during this brutal campaign driven by a fear of cultural assimilation that could undermine their belief in a “Master Race”.
Joseph Conrad’s novel The Heart of Darkness and Francis Coppola’s film Apocalypse Now both delve into mankind’s inner journey and offer insights that arise from within oneself.These works also explore themes like facing fears of failure,madness,demise,and cultural contamination.
During his search for Kurtz, Marlow is also searching for his own identity. Like Kurtz, Marlow initially had good intentions when he arrived in the Congo. Conrad aims to illustrate that Marlow represents what Kurtz once was, while Kurtz symbolizes what Marlow could potentially become. In essence, every individual possesses a mix of Marlow and Kurtz within themselves. Marlow admits, “I was getting savage (Conrad),” indicating that he was gradually adopting Kurtz’s ways. As they journey deeper into the wilderness, both men uncover their true nature through encounters with native tribes. As he proceeds further along the Congo, Marlow perceives his voyage as a journey back in time. The raw wilderness fills him with a sense of its desolate darkness. Along the riverbanks, Marlow encounters more primitive cannibalistic societies. The deeper he penetrates the jungle, the more primitive the inhabitants appear.
Kurtz resided in the Congo for a significant period of time, removed from his own society. Once regarded as an honorable individual, he underwent a substantial transformation in the jungle. Cut off from the rest of his people, he encountered his dark side and became corrupted by power and solitude. Marlow explains Kurtz’s possession of ivory as well as his lack of self-restraint, describing him as “a tree swayed by the wind (Conrad, 209).” Furthermore, Marlow recounts the gruesome display of human heads on posts, signifying Kurtz’s unrestrained indulgence in his various desires (Conrad, 220). Conrad further reveals that Kurtz’s sanity deteriorated to the point where he participated in midnight rituals that culminated in unspeakable acts dedicated to him (Conrad, 208). Thus, it is apparent that Kurtz’s isolation from his own culture led him to be influenced and corrupted by the violent native culture, enabling his dark side to dominate.
Marlow discovers that it is only when a person is very close to death that they truly understand the bigger picture. According to Marlow, Kurtz’s final moments were described as if a veil had been torn apart (Conrad, 239). Kurtz’s last moment of complete knowledge revealed to him the true horror of the human soul (Conrad, 239). Although Marlow can only speculate on what Kurtz saw that made him exclaim “The horror! The horror,” he later admits that he now understands the meaning behind Kurtz’s stare since he himself looked over the edge and grasped its significance. Marlow believes that Kurtz suddenly gained complete knowledge and realized the extent of mankind’s deceitfulness. Through Kurtz’s death, Marlow also learns and acknowledges that every human possesses this sinister and malevolent side.
Francis Coppola’s film, Apocalypse Now, is loosely based on Conrad’s book. The protagonist in the movie, Captain Willard, represents Marlow from the book. Willard’s objective is to venture into Cambodia during the Vietnam war and locate and eliminate Colonel Kurtz, who has gone insane. Similarly to Conrad’s portrayal, Coppola’s Kurtz is depicted as a rational and accomplished officer who undergoes a profound realization of horror. Both Kurtzes were once highly esteemed individuals but were ultimately corrupted by the atrocities of war and the various societies they encountered.
Coppola reveals in Hearts of Darkness that Kurtz’s primary anxiety is “being white in a non white jungle (Bahr).” In the film, the main proof for this implication is the story Kurtz shares with Willard about the Special Forces entering a village, vaccinating the children against polio, leaving, and then the communists arriving and cutting off the arms of the vaccinated children. This event marks the point at which Kurtz starts to lose his sanity; he “wept like some grandmother” when he was called back by a villager and witnessed the pile of severed little arms. This incident is a more complex manifestation of the “escalating horrors” that Kurtz spoke of, which includes senseless decapitation, torture, and similar actions carried out by the Vietnamese army. Kurtz is confronted with an unfamiliar culture and struggles greatly to cope with it. This event served as the catalyst for his descent into madness.
The creation of Colonel Kurtz was a collective effort by all of America, just as Mr. Kurtz was brought forth by all of Europe. Both Kurtzes are depicted as witnesses to the atrocities, highlighting the fear of losing one’s identity, losing importance, and the displacement of Western culture from its perceived position at the center of history by those who have been enslaved and oppressed by it (Worthy 24).
This indicates that the malevolence and insanity exhibited by both Kurtzes were triggered by their fear of cultures different from their own and their inability to cope with this fear. The contradiction between the initial words in Kurtz’s report – “By the simple exercise of our will, we can exert a power for good practically unbounded” – and the final note on the last page – “Exterminate all the brutes!” – portrays the gradual externalization of Kurtz’s fear of “contamination.” It represents the personal dread of losing one’s identity that colonialist whites saw in the “uncivilized” and seemingly backward lifestyle of the native people. Eventually, both Kurtzes, one in Congo and one in Vietnam, merged their deceitful nature with reality.
The breakdown of well-defined cultural values in the Congo and Vietnam led to madness among both Americans in Vietnam and colonialists in Africa. Hearts of Darkness explores this madness, showcasing Kurtz’s insanity, the filmmakers’ madness, and the madness of U.S. culture. The documentary reveals contradictions between the United States’ cultural forces’ inherent hierarchy and inequality and its official democratic principles. This resulted in the belief that the U.S. could disregard insignificant people while maintaining its global image. However, since the Tet Offensive of 1968, it has become clear that this perception was mistaken. American Culture sees itself as powerful and correct but struggles with realizing its lack of superiority compared to others.
Coppola highlights the ironic vulnerability of a heavily armed Chief on a boat, who is killed by a native in a tree who throws a spear. This incident reveals to Captain Willard the horrifying reality of his current situation. Furthermore, the parallel between the character transformations in Apocalypse Now and the real-life cast and crew is captivating. In Hearts of Darkness, a documentary on the film’s production, Eugene Coppola assumes the role of narrator akin to Marlow or Captain Willard, while Francis becomes Kurtz himself.
Francis believed that in order to understand Willard’s moral struggle, he had to experience it himself. He felt that he needed to lose control of his own life before finding the answers to the questions posed in his narrative (Worthy 24). Coppola’s main fear was creating a movie that came across as pretentious. Eleanor consistently described the making of Apocalypse Now as a journey into Coppola’s inner self. Coppola, like Kurtz, was seen as a deity. While Willard pursued Kurtz in the film, Coppola pursued himself, grappling with unanswered questions and ultimately expressing his desire to “shoot himself.” Although he meant suicide, the word choice also serves as a critique of both the U.S. and Coppola’s film for their self-absorbed nature (Worthy 24). Amidst growing budget concerns and restless crew members and actors, Coppola also struggled with his diminishing self-confidence. He questioned whether he had what it took to complete the film, grappling with the ending, his creative abilities, and his sense of purpose.
During the filming of Apocalypse Now, Martin Sheen, who portrays Captain Willard, undergoes a personal confrontation with horror. This intense experience results in a nervous breakdown and later a heart attack for him. Interestingly, some of his fellow actors perceive Martin as actually embodying the character he plays on screen – Captain Willard – and believe he is going through a similar process of self-discovery.
In our lives, we are mostly protected within our own society and have limited exposure to different cultures. It is common for technologically advanced societies to look down upon those they see as less complex. However, when individuals from diverse cultures interact with one another, they embark on their own journey of self-discovery.
Both cultures eventually realize that at their core, all humans are essentially the same. Regardless of cultural progress, everyone possesses both positive and negative aspects within themselves. This realization often leads to insanity as the darker side surfaces. Only those who have completed their own exploration into self can truly understand the behavior of individuals like Kurtz.
Bibliography:
1. Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Coppola and starring Martin Sheen, Robert Duval, and Marlon Brando, was released in 1979 by Zeotrope.
2. Conrad, James. Heart of Darkness and Other Tales. Great Britain, BPC paperbacks ltd. 1990.
Hearts of Darkness was directed by Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper. It was released in 1991 by Paramount.
On June 15, 1995, “Hearts of Darkness — A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse” was surveyed in Magill’s Survey of Cinema.
5. Worthy, Kim, “Hearts of Darkness: Making art, making history, making money, making ‘Vietnam’.”., Vol. 19, Cineaste, December 1, 1992, pp 24.
