The word “truth” can be defined as factual data, individual perspectives, shared experiences, universal dictums, beliefs, etc. The definition of truth is complex which makes defining truths of war problematic. Three works used to define the many truths of war were, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, and Francis Ford Coppola’s movie Apocalypse Now. Out of the numerous truths of war that were identified in all three of these works, two truths were chosen to be presented. Those two truths that are seen frequently throughout the novel are war is chaotic and it changes people. The first truth seen throughout all three works is war is chaotic. In the novel, The Things They Carried, this particular truth is seen when
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One character it changes is Colonel Kurtz. Colonel Kurtz was the man Willard was assigned to find and “terminate.” According to Corman, Kurtz was one of the most outstanding officers the country had ever produced. He was a brilliant and outstanding in every way and he was a good man too. Eventually the war got to Kurtz and he became a murdering, brainwashing runaway that was wanted by the U.S. Army. The army had played a tape for Willard of Kurtz saying, "We must kill them. We must incinerate them. Pig after pig, cow after cow, village after village, army after army. And they call me an assassin. What do you call it when the assassins accuse the assassin ? They lie.. they lie and we have to be merciful for those who lie. Those nabobs. I hate them. How I hate them (Coppola)." From this it is shown that he is no longer a man that is looked up to in the army. He talks about killing innocents and hating the army. Obviously the war had changed Kurtz and made him a crazy threat to the army. Coppola’s style of using a dark background and dark music exposes this truth because as the movie progresses, the scenes become more gory. It seems to represent the mood of Willard. As the war changes Willard, so does the tone of the movie. This movie does not expose the truth the best because the mood of the scene does not always necessarily prove the fact that war changes
One character it changes is Colonel Kurtz. Colonel Kurtz was the man Willard was assigned to find and “terminate.” According to Corman, Kurtz was one of the most outstanding officers the country had ever produced. He was a brilliant and outstanding in every way and he was a good man too. Eventually the war got to Kurtz and he became a murdering, brainwashing runaway that was wanted by the U.S. Army. The army had played a tape for Willard of Kurtz saying, "We must kill them. We must incinerate them. Pig after pig, cow after cow, village after village, army after army. And they call me an assassin. What do you call it when the assassins accuse the assassin ? They lie.. they lie and we have to be merciful for those who lie. Those nabobs. I hate them. How I hate them (Coppola)." From this it is shown that he is no longer a man that is looked up to in the army. He talks about killing innocents and hating the army. Obviously the war had changed Kurtz and made him a crazy threat to the army. Coppola’s style of using a dark background and dark music exposes this truth because as the movie progresses, the scenes become more gory. It seems to represent the mood of Willard. As the war changes Willard, so does the tone of the movie. This movie does not expose the truth the best because the mood of the scene does not always necessarily prove the fact that war changes