In exploring ourselves and understanding the soul, the world notices that society has the ability to bring out our savage sides. At times, this evil side has the tendency to break out during periods of isolation from our culture or when we notice differences between cultures. Francis Ford Coppola's film Apocalypse Now and Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness share parallel characters, ideas and dialogues, but most important is the clear similarity between essential themes. Each deals with the primitive, animalistic qualities hidden within the modern, sophisticated man. One of the many comparisons between the two works is race. Joseph Conrad and Francis Coppola both use white men as the characters that have dominance. Although the Caucasian men within the two works believed they had reached the height of civilization, remnants remained of their own savagery. .
Throughout Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now there is reference to the idea of civility versus savagery. Each respective work illustrates the difference between the Caucasian ideal of civilization and the reality of it, displayed by the domination, torture and dehumanization of the African people. Greedy white men searched Africa in hopes for Ivory: a profit. Conrad's protagonist, Marlow, and Coppola's character, Willard, both look at the natives as though white men are the civilized culture and the native people are the savage culture. Both works reflect the theory that "civilized" white men that go into an uncivilized land become savage and do not return to white civilization. An example of this civility turned savage is Kurtz: Kurtz ultimately turns from a civil, ordinary soldier, to an animalistic savage because of his experiences in both respected settings. He eventually dies and never returns to white civilization. When Kurtz dies, Marlow (Willard) sees a little of himself in this immoral, uncivilized white man. Even a white, ordinary man ultimately be seen as savage as the Europeans saw the black natives of Africa.