Metaphors and Symbolism in Heart Of Darkness Essay

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The setting of a novel is often an outward reflection of inner turmoil. It is the physical depiction of the metaphysical. Humans are enigmatic creatures who hide emotions beneath the surface of their skin, through a crooked smile or a hard look. In Apocalypse Now, the soldiers may surf the waves of a foreign land in order to replace fear with familiarity, but a bravado that stems from an inability to confront the truth will only perpetuate oppression. The Vietnam War parallels the colonization of Africa, the setting of Conrads novel Heart of Darkness. Both were cruel ventures where man sought to enlighten man; in the jungles of Africa it is with guns and Christianity, and in the jungles of Vietnam it is with guns and democracy. Liberation is often imposed; and in both novel and movie, the expeditions progression up the sinuous river is marked with increasing chaos and anarchy. Each station is a terminal to hell and each one brings the expedition closer to humanitys heart of darkness.

Fog and smoke shroud the actions of imperialist and solider in both narratives. In securing a point of entry for Willard, Kilgore rains death and napalm on the Viet Cong at Charlies point and the area becomes a hazy place of ruin. The smoke highlights the ambiguity of their actions in liberating the natives as does the fog in the novel. The dead Viet Cong are claimed by Kilgore with death cards so that others will know to fear him. The beach becomes a place of death like the Outer Station in the novel is a grove of death. The populations of both areas are characterized in dehumanizing terms. The Africans are black shadows of disease and starvation, and the wounded Viet Cong seen as Kilgore walks through the village throwing cards at bodies echoes this inhuman depiction. Kilgore and the soldiers speak of the Viet Cong in military jargon using terms such as sappers and Charlie. These terms remove the enemy from humanity in the manner that savages and barbarians remove the Africans from humanity. The natives become objects and war prizes, exemplified by Kurtzs brutal placement of rebel heads on stakes and Kilgores placement of death cards on bodies, in a larger game of chess.

The jungle is a character that rejects and attacks the intrusion in its midst. Arrows shot by unseen natives pummel both expeditions and they react with futile volleys of gunfire into the jungle. Chef unleashes a stream of bullets and panic when he sees a tiger and in the aftermath he reminds himself to never get off the boat. The boat is the soldiers sole reminder of civilization and they cling tightly to it in the face of a humbling natural force. It is mans own hubris that is the genesis of both expeditions; it is the prevailing belief that man, in the form of Kurtz, can do good in the world. But outside of civil constructs, well-meant liberation can warp into forced oppression. The native religion is systematically displaced by Christianity; the cow is lifted by helicopter in front of a cathedral. The natural world tries to expel the invasion and Kurtz does die in accounts. However in the movie, while Willard goes to murder Kurtz, the natives are seen bludgeoning a cow to death. The cow falls victim to the perpetuated lie of imperialism as the jungle will fall victim to the invasion.

The incoming tide that brings good surf also brings the rotten flotsam of war and the crying dead. Both expeditions find themselves in a situation much deeper than they had previously thought. The pretense of liberation is a thin line separating deeds done in magnanimity and deeds done in greed. Those who believe in this pretense are rewarded, Lance who naively obeys all suggestions and commands and the intended fianc of Kurtz, who in her navet believes that Kurtz loves her. Ignorance perpetuates the lie of imperialism. The natural tendency of man, without the restraints of civilization, is to be susceptible to evil and to give in to the temptation. The actions born from ignorance and freedom of restraint bring Marlow and Willard to the realization that a heart of darkness resides in all men.