Individuals have the capacity to be brutal and disillusioned in the desperate pursuit of power in human nature. Humanity has the potential to adopt methods of hypocrisy and dishonesty that lead to an atavistic descent into brutality, or conversely uncover a hidden truth, leading to disillusionment about the nature of humankind. This ability to transcend the limits of individual sensibility is explored in both Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, where both narratives explore the universal capacity for brutality and hypocrisy through Kurtz's atavism, while the potential for disillusionment with these actions is expressed through the thought of Marlow and Willard. journey of self-discovery and uncovering the lies of their civilization. Conrad responds to the hypocrisy of King Leopold and the atrocities committed in the Congo Free State, while Coppola recontextualizes this in terms of the hypocrisy and absurdity of the United States in the Vietnam War. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In Heart of Darkness, Conrad originally defines Kurtz as a perfect embodiment of European civilization, but one who engages in an atavistic descent into brutality in Africa, suggesting the universal capacity for brutality in humanity when the constraints of civilization are removed. Conrad describes Kurtz as "an emissary of piety, science and progress", as well as a "universal genius" with "superior intelligence, broad sympathies, singleness of purpose", with polysyndetus and tricolon used to elevate his character, a perfect embodiment of civilization . Conrad also uses him as an everyman, when he writes that "all Europe contributed to the formation of Kurtz", presenting Kurtz as a universal figure of European civilization. However, the fact that Kurtz, in his quest for power in Africa, also engages in euphemistic “unspeakable rites” and “certain midnight dances,” with “skulls” surrounding his compound, reveals the universal capacity for brutality in human nature, emphasized through links to the connotations of cannibalism here. Conrad uses metaphor to reveal that Kurtz has "kicked himself free from the earth", becoming "an animated image of death carved in old ivory", suggesting through the metaphor and motif of the ivory becoming the thing in which he accumulated. his greed, having disconnected himself from the constraints of civilization. This responds to King Leopold's greed, which led to the brutality seen in his Congo Free State, where hands and limbs of native Africans were cut off under his empire unless they harvested the desired amount of ivory. It was described as a "thoroughly commercial enterprise", involving such brutality, and Conrad responds to this context by using Kurtz to reveal this capacity for brutality in human nature. The metaphorical "darkness" and "desert", representing all the dark aspects of human nature, have "taken him, loved him, embraced him, entered his veins, consumed his flesh and sealed his soul to itself through the inconceivable ceremonies of some diabolical initiation." Conrad uses diabolical imagery with personification and asyndeton to allude to a Faustian pact between Kurtz and the wilderness, as if the wilderness has completely transcended the limits of his sensibility, ultimately implying that beneath the facade of civilization, when social constraints are removed to the "dark continent" of Africa, all that remains is brutality and "horror", revealing this universal capacity for brutality in human nature. In Apocalypse Now, Coppola also constructs Kurtz as a lofty figure of perfection, who engages in an atavistic descent, to further explorehuman nature's capacity for brutality in every man. Coppola uses the recurring motif of the photo of a younger Kurtz to create a mythical presence around him, reinforced by his status as "brilliant", "exceptional". in every way...humanitarian." However, as in Heart of Darkness , we learn that this perfect embodiment of the US war effort in Vietnam has become someone who acts "without any reasonable restraint", Coppola echoing the motif of restraint in Heart of Darkness Kurtz's methods have become "unhealthy", emphasized through mise-en-scène of his temple complex, the naked bodies and severed heads scattered throughout the frame, hanging from trees, along with the diegetic sound of carrion flies buzzing all create a sense of decadence, with unbridled contempt for the sacredness of life human that captures Kurtz's extreme brutal behavior. Coppola also shrouds Kurtz's face in a dark light when he says that "horror has a face", suggesting that it is a representation of horror, of ferocity, of brutality. This ultimately demonstrates the universal capacity for brutality, even in so-called civilized individuals, as in the case of Heart of Darkness, however, Coppola reapplies this idea to the Cold War context the potential for all-out nuclear war and a man-made apocalypse at that moment it reflected this idea of ​​the inherent brutality of man. The Watergate scandal of 1974 also revealed the capacity for greed and corruption even in people of power, reflecting Coppola's depiction of this inherent atavism in human nature. The visual similarity between Kurtz and Willard at the end of the film, Coppola giving Willard the straight hair, the muddy face, and the low angle shots suggest Willard's potential to replace Kurtz and become this figure of evil. This then furthers this idea of ​​inherent brutality, as Willard, who has shown restraint towards the “jungle” throughout the film, also has this ability to descend into atavism. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad demonstrates Marlow's disillusionment with the "philanthropic pretensions" of the empire. , but reveals the ultimate failure to recognize this dissatisfaction with the hypocrisy of empire. Conrad uses the metaphor of the journey into the "heart of darkness", to discover the "flaccid devil" of the empire. During his journey he meets the Accountant, who Conrad uses as one of the tale's Hollow Men, described as a "hairdresser's dummy", who puts the books in "apple pie order" in stark contrast to the suffering of the natives in the " grove of death.” Conrad describes the natives as a “dark circle of hell,” with infernal connotations in an allusion to Dante's poem of damnation. Native even “tied a piece of white worsted wool around his neck,” as if the Empire had a noose around the natives, reducing them to mere "black shapes". Marlow's use of irony suggests his disillusionment with these atrocities, labeling them as "high and just proceedings", having to " [turn] one's back on that station ... [to] maintain control over the redemptive facts of life", symbolically distracting oneself from the truth, when one knows it to the core. This reflects the dominant contextual attitudes of the late 19th century, which they believed in the "white man's burden" of the empire, in the "civilization of savages", as symbolized by the beliefs of Marlow's aunt, who labels Marlow "one of the workers", with religious attitudes. images that emphasize the sanctity of the Empire, ("an emissary of light... a kind of inferior apostle." However, Marlow recognizes the "madness" of the Empire, the personified "sordid farce played out in front of a sinister background" and his oxymoronic "unfaithful pilgrims",