They lie, and we have to be merciful for those who lie." These words, spoken by Colonel Kurtz in the Vietnam film Apocalypse Now, describe the disgust Kurtz has at American and Western involvement in Indochina. This film and message by Kurtz parallels with the theme of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, from which the movie was based. In Conrad's work, he uses descriptive details of his accounts in European Africa. Those "blank spaces on the earth"(22) Conrad and his protagonist for the novel, Marlow, dreamed of journeying to were finally accessible to them during the turn of the century - At the exact moment East and Central Africa were falling under the dominion of European colonialism. Marlow, like Conrad's life experience, is sent on his mission, and it is his story with his eerie, descriptive details of that mission that warns of the perils of European dominance and expansion. .
It is clear early in the novel that Conrad is making a negative statement about European imperialism. Marlow's first journey occurs on the French steamer shipping down the African coast. Marlow describes the ship's sole purpose as "landing soldiers and custom-house officers."(27) Marlow is clearly upset with the continuing drop-off of these men along the coast. When speaking about the port cities established by the European settlers and traders, Marlow said that their "names seemed to belong to some sordid farce acted in front of a sinister back-cloth."(28) Marlow realizes that being trapped on the ship, and therefore trapped within the confines of Western ideals and thoughts, has kept him "away from the truth of things within the mournful and senseless delusion."(28) His only "momentary contacts with reality"(28) occurs when black men travel on their paddle boats, and Marlow is captivated by their feature and presence. .
Marlow is particularly disgusted by the on-going "wars" the French are partaking in throughout his journey to the Congo.