In both Heart of Darkness and "Apocalypse Now," as the main character approaches his ultimate goal, he gets farther away from his grasp on the logic and reasoning of reality. In the midst of attempting to satiate his desire to see Kurtz or to see through the impenetrable "whiteness of the fog" the characters become blind to reasonable practices of humanity. In both the film and the novella, extenuating circumstances of war (Vietnam) or cultural differences/ domination (Africa) breed a blindness from which develops anxiety and paranoia.
In "Apocalypse Now," one of the most disturbing scenes for me was the incident with the puppy. Blind to the fact that they were far more threatening than the natives aboard the boat, the crew could only respond in a paranoid manner. Thinking that among the ducks and veggies, this woman was armed, they took her life. They ended her existence, all because she was reaching to protect an innocent puppy.
Not only blinded by circumstance but also blinded by social practice, in both Heart of Darkness and "Apocalypse Now," social stigmas leave the characters blind to the fact that these natives/ savages are people, are human just as they are.
"Yes; I looked at them as you would on any human being, with a curiosity of their impulses, motives, capacities, weaknesses, when brought to the test of an inexorable physical necessity. Restraint! What possible restraint? Was it superstition, disgust, patience, fear--or some kind of primitive honour? No fear can stand up to hunger, no patience can wear it out, disgust simply does not exist where hunger is; and as to superstition, beliefs, and what you may call principles, they are less than chaff in a breeze. Don't you know the devilry of lingering starvation, its exasperating torment, its black thoughts, its sombre and brooding ferocity?"
In Heart of Darkness, even though some small part accepts the natives as human, they still fear the that their savage instincts will overcome their humanity, and the natives will devour them at any point.
Both the novella and the film, though in different settings and under somewhat different circumstances, succeed in exhibiting how people can be blinded by their sights. When they have set a goal and wish to reach it at any cost, a sort of madness sets in that manifests and festers itself in the brain controlling every thought. This sickness results in a blindness that blocks out all other emotions or reasoning. The body becomes numb, a machine and can only function to practice what has been programmed.
In "Apocalypse Now," one of the most disturbing scenes for me was the incident with the puppy. Blind to the fact that they were far more threatening than the natives aboard the boat, the crew could only respond in a paranoid manner. Thinking that among the ducks and veggies, this woman was armed, they took her life. They ended her existence, all because she was reaching to protect an innocent puppy.
Not only blinded by circumstance but also blinded by social practice, in both Heart of Darkness and "Apocalypse Now," social stigmas leave the characters blind to the fact that these natives/ savages are people, are human just as they are.
"Yes; I looked at them as you would on any human being, with a curiosity of their impulses, motives, capacities, weaknesses, when brought to the test of an inexorable physical necessity. Restraint! What possible restraint? Was it superstition, disgust, patience, fear--or some kind of primitive honour? No fear can stand up to hunger, no patience can wear it out, disgust simply does not exist where hunger is; and as to superstition, beliefs, and what you may call principles, they are less than chaff in a breeze. Don't you know the devilry of lingering starvation, its exasperating torment, its black thoughts, its sombre and brooding ferocity?"
In Heart of Darkness, even though some small part accepts the natives as human, they still fear the that their savage instincts will overcome their humanity, and the natives will devour them at any point.
Both the novella and the film, though in different settings and under somewhat different circumstances, succeed in exhibiting how people can be blinded by their sights. When they have set a goal and wish to reach it at any cost, a sort of madness sets in that manifests and festers itself in the brain controlling every thought. This sickness results in a blindness that blocks out all other emotions or reasoning. The body becomes numb, a machine and can only function to practice what has been programmed.
