Symbolism In Apocalypse Now

The Symbols of Darkness In the adventures of an ancient civilization in the novella of Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses many symbols to explain the underlying theme of the story. Many similar symbols also appear in the 1979 movie Apocalypse Now; director Francis Ford Coppola also uses symbols within the context of a violent and turbulent time of the Vietnam War to provide explanation and context. These symbols help explain the underlining themes and context for the audience to fully understand these works. Although the time and setting in the Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now are very different, the central theme of losing oneself to evil is the same. In looking at the symbols of the novella and the movie, many of the symbols share …show more content…
One such symbol in Apocalypse Now is the painted faces which symbolize the uncivilized nature of the people similar to the Russian’s clothes in the novella. Although they are similar, they are also very different since the masks show the uncivilized nature of the natives and the Russian’s clothes symbolize patches and foolishness. Another symbol in the movie is the fog and the smoke which symbolizes confusion and the unknown, similar to the smoke in the novella as they went up the river and didn’t know what was about to come and confusion. The next symbol in the movie is the encounter with the French plantation owners who continue to live and exploit the land for greed, similar to the Eldorado Exploring Expedition in the novella. Another similar symbol in the movie is the boat which symbolizes their means for their journey into darkness which is similar to the boat used in the Congo River in the novella. Another symbol is the jungle of Vietnam which is similar to the jungle of Africa which both symbolizes the evil, uncivilized, and darkness. The symbol of the jungle is shown in evil when the Chef said the following quote, “Never get out of the boat” (Apocalypse Now). The next symbol in the movie is Kurtz’s society which symbolizes he had lost himself to the natives and he had begun to fit into the native’s world. This is similar to the novella, as the crew went more up the river the more uncivilized they became. Another symbol in the movie is the severed heads which symbolize the brutality and evilness in the jungle similar to the severed heads in the novella as ornamental balls. The difference between the severed heads in the movie is that the severed heads were seen lying all over the ground in the movie. This quote shows the brutality of the people symbolized by the severed heads, “There’s a conflict in every human heart between the good