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Apocalypse Now vs. Heart of Darkness

            Heart of Darkness is a story about a riverboat captain named Marlow who journeys up the Congo River in search to find a man named Kurtz and Apocalypse Now is a story about an army captain named Benjamin Willard who is sent to Cambodia to kill a man named Colonel Kurtz who has gone rogue during the Vietnam conflict.
             Both stories are very similar in many ways. The protagonists travel down rivers in the jungle in their respective stories looking for a crazy man named Kurtz who we don't meet till the end of the story. Both plots tell the story of the protagonist's journeys down the rivers and into the heart of the jungle looking for Kurtz.
             Even though both stories and settings are similar they are different in many ways at the same time. Apocalypse Now is a modern version of Heart of Darkness that emerged in American cinema in 1979 due to a strong storyline, a strong cast and interest in the Vietnam conflict.
             In order to properly analyze both of these stories let's begin with the protagonists. Benjamin Willard (played by Martin Sheen in the film) is a former CIA counterintelligence officer who was commissioned as a captain in the United States army during the Vietnam conflict. Willard was secretly given a classified mission to kill Kurtz by a group of high-ranking army officials. .
             Marlow had a different mission and purpose than Willard in his story. Marlow was a philosophical riverboat captain working for a company based in Belgium that ran organized trade along the Congo River.
             Now that we have met our protagonists, its time to meet the antagonists of their respective stories. A Special Forces army colonel, Walter E. Kurtz was about to be arrested for murder while having a very successful career in the army. Kurtz escaped being arrested for murder and slipped into Cambodia. Kurtz quickly established himself in Cambodia and the natives worshipped him like a God. Kurtz even managed to successfully turn several military servicemen into joining his new cause in the region.


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