Change In Heart Of Darkness :: essays research papers

Joseph Conrad once wrote, &8220the case-by-case consciousness was destined to be in total contradiction to its corporal and moral milieu (Watt 78) the validity of his statement is reflected in the physiological and psychological changes that the characters in both his Heart of Darkness and Coppola&8217s Apocalypse Now change as they travel up their respective rivers, the Congo and the Nung. Each tour up the tropical river is symbolic of a transit of discovery into the dyed heart of man, and an encounter with his capacity for evil. In such a sweep the characters regress to their basic instincts as they assimilate themselves into an alien world with its cardinal dangers. In Heart of Darkness, going up the river is described to be comparable&8220travelling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the uncollectible trees were kings. An empty stream, a great silence, and impenetrable forest &8230 (Conrad ?). The river, one which &8 220resembles an commodious snake uncoiled &8230 with its tail lost in the depths of the land (Conrad ?), is &8220dangerous, dark, mysterious, treacherous, and concealed (Karl 32). When the characters are unable to withstand the various temptations along this passage they helplessly sell their souls to corruption. In both the book and the movie, the various events along each individual journey help illustrate not only the physical deterioration of the environment and the characters&8217 health but also the psychological degradation of the characters&8217 conscience and consciousness.In both Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, the various dramatic shifts in the environment from the onset of the river journeys delineate an increasing barbarity and savagery as the characters penetrate deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. The direction of both journeys are formally naturalised as a movement from &8220open and boundless to narrow and curb spaces (Adelman 66), from the light of the sun into the darkness. Projected towards the wilderness, each journey reflects a voyage into the &8220gloom of over-shadowed distances (Conrad ?). In Heart of Darkness, the rivers begin to narrow as the ships come near Kurtz&8217s compound, and Conrad describes this last section of the river as &8220narrow, straight, with high sides like a railway cutting (?). In Apocalypse Now, the river towards the end of the journey is located among steep cliffs on both sides these men are symbolically pin down within this valley, with no chance of escaping from the many horrors they face.