Darkness In Heart Of Darkness And Apocalypse Now

Found within every man, woman, or child is a hidden shadow that only flickers and veils itself from the light. This darkness within can be overwhelming or a small part of that person, waiting to grow larger as circumstances befall that individual. Some may argue that darkness is not a trait born within an individual and they can believe that, but what is true is that the darkness someone might have is ultimately crafted by the situations they go through and how they perceive them. In the novel Heart of Darkness and the film Apocalypse Now, the development of each characters ' darkness is evident along with the circumstances that lead to those changes within them, even if some of the situations may vary, there are increasing amounts of metaphors that reflect that darkness. The title of the book by …show more content…
Yes; but it 's like a running blaze on a plain, like a flash of lightning in the clouds. We live in the flicker—may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling! But darkness was here yesterday" (Conrad 48). Marlow is describing to his audience that even though there were positive things—like knights—they did not always have to deal with happy fairy tales, but could deal with the violent and destructive things—much like the destruction of another country. There is also this which is said by Col. Kurtz: “Horror, Horror has a face, and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not, then they are enemies to be feared” (Apocalypse Now). This can be compared to how the phrase “The horror! The horror!” was the final sentence by Kurtz in both Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness, leaving what was meant by these words up for interpretation (Apocalypse Now). However, basing this on what Kurtz had to say earlier in the movie, these words have a deep and dark meaning for Kurtz to be saying them at the end of his