Kurtz In Two Dimensions
Kurtz In Two DimensionsThe Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now are basically the same story. The only one difference being their settings. How could such similar events happen under such different circumstances? Well the circumstances are not as dissimilar as they may at first appear. Both are situations in which an individual (Kurtz) is put in an emotionally trying situation. The character named Kurtz from the novel and the character named Kurtz from the movie both react in the same way.
In The Heart of Darkness, Kurtz maintains an outpost in the heart of the Congo. He is introduced to customs and value systems that he had never before encountered. He witnesses sacrifices and cannibalism. These events thoroughly change his mind frame with their profound influence on him. Seeing humans act in this way brought out feelings and desires that he had never before explored. He may or may not have feared these desires at first but he could not deny them regardless. We find out his ideas about these urges at the end of the novel in the famous line “The horror, the horror.” Marlow relates his ideas on the topic in the following:
I tried to break the spell…that seemed to draw him to its pitiless breast by the awakening of forgotten and brutal instincts, by the memory of gratified and monstrous passions. This alone, I was convinced, had driven him out to the edge of the forest…this alone had beguiled his unlawful soul beyond the bounds of permitted aspirations. (pg. 119)
Kurtz surrendered his soul completely to the urges and split away from any reality he had...
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