Apocalypse Now And Heart Of Darkness
Inherent inside every human soul is a savage evil side that remains repressed
by society. Often this evil side breaks out during times of isolation from our
culture, and whenever one culture confronts another. History is loaded with
examples of atrocities that have occurred when one culture comes into contact
with another. Whenever fundamentally different cultures meet, there is often a
fear of contamination and loss of self that leads us to discover more about our
true selves, often causing perceived madness by those who have yet to discover.
The Puritans left Europe in hopes of finding a new world to welcome them and
their beliefs. What they found was a vast new world, loaded with ...
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raids of the ghettos to locate and often exterminate any Jews they
found. Although Jews are the most widely known victims of the Holocaust, they
were not the only targets. When the war ended, 6 million Jews, Slavs, Gypsies,
homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Communists, and others targeted by the Nazis,
had died in the Holocaust. Most of these deaths occurred in gas chambers and
mass shootings. This gruesome attack was motivated mainly by the fear of
cultural intermixing which would impurify the "Master Race."
Joseph Conrad�s book, The Heart of Darkness and Francis Coppola�s movie,
Apocalypse Now are both stories about Man�s journey into his self, and the
discoveries to be made there. They are also about Man confronting his fears of
failure, insanity, death, and cultural contamination.
During Marlow�s mission to find Kurtz, he is also trying to find himself. He,
like Kurtz had good intentions upon entering the Congo. Conrad tries to show us
that Marlow is what ...
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certain midnight dances ending
with unspeakable rights, which� were offered up to him (Conrad, 208)," meaning
that Kurtz went insane and allowed himself to be worshipped as a god. It appears
that while Kurtz had been isolated from his culture, he had become corrupted by
this violent native culture, and allowed his evil side to control him.
Marlow realizes that only very near the time of death, does a person grasp the
big picture. He describes Kurtz�s last moments "as though a veil had been rent
(Conrad, 239)." Kurtz�s last "supreme moment of complete knowledge (Conrad,
239)," showed him how horrible the human soul really can be. Marlow can only
speculate as to what Kurtz saw that caused ...
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Apocalypse Now And Heart Of Darkness. (2007, February 20). Retrieved November 28, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Apocalypse-Now-And-Heart-Of-Darkness/60600
"Apocalypse Now And Heart Of Darkness." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 20 Feb. 2007. Web. 28 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Apocalypse-Now-And-Heart-Of-Darkness/60600>
"Apocalypse Now And Heart Of Darkness." Essayworld.com. February 20, 2007. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Apocalypse-Now-And-Heart-Of-Darkness/60600.
"Apocalypse Now And Heart Of Darkness." Essayworld.com. February 20, 2007. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Apocalypse-Now-And-Heart-Of-Darkness/60600.
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