Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and the movie "Apocalypse Now" are both stories about a man's exploration of his own self and what he finds there. Both Marlow and Willard are forewarned about the dangers that await them on their journeys, but neither man is able to understand how truly powerful the impact the different elements of their expeditions have on them until they have met with Kurtz. Their meetings and discussions with Kurtz forever alter their personality, as both appear incredibly pensive and introverted after meeting him and returning to their points of origin. These movies are also about these men confronting their many fears, such as insanity and death. Marlow's purpose of his mission is twofold- the more obvious purpose is to find Kurtz, but the less obvious and more personal purpose for Marlow is to find himself. As the story progresses, Conrad shows the reader that Marlow is what Kurtz used to be, and also that Kurtz is what Marlow could become. We see a very similar pattern with Captain Willard. He has returned to Vietnam for his second tour of duty because when he returned home, he could no longer maintain the relationships he had when he left. He had already been forever changed by what he saw, but after his meetings with Kurtz he realized that Kurtz's insanity stemmed from similar circumstances to the ones he found himself in. Both men's experiences in the jungle change who they are and how they look at life, and both Conrad and Coppala do a brilliant job of conveying this point.
