Significance Of Kurtz In Apocalypse Now

People buy into the idea of their country’s involvement, in that it is bringing a better life to the people in the land; disillusionment and betrayal of the promised ideal motivate both versions of a genocidal Kurtz. Kurtz of Heart of Darkness begins his expedition into the Congo believing that “‘by the simple exercise of [...] will we can exert a power for good practically unbounded” (Conrad 61). This idealistic man turns into a merciless killer making his own declaration “exterminate all the brutes!” (62). Milius and Coppola’s Kurtz is the Vietnam rendition of Conrad’s. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now begins “one of the most outstanding officers this country's ever produced. He was brilliant. He was outstanding in every way. And he was a good
Kurtz must fall according to the company, for he went rogue and he unveiled the evils of the imperialistic leadership. In Vietnam Kurtz sees through a facade of good will, saving the people from their own ignorance and the dangers of communism, it is simply a power struggle. While Kurtz appears to be the embodiment of all things evil in the war he is simply representing the battle for control. Kurtz removes the ‘rules of war’, which do not even appear to be adhered to when Kilgore bombs a Vietnamese village. Kurtz rips off the facade and reveals the true motive of the war, to have control. The people worship Kurtz as though he is a god. He reached the end, power. However his means are considered unorthodox and merciless. Although this is the system which works, and it parallels the senseless killing of other generals, the only difference is he does not hide behind a mask of hollow morals. He threatens to expose the inefficiency, moral degradation, and “the dream of domination and control which Americans wanted to realize” (Bogue 622) not only to the people, but he holds up a mirror for the leaders to see the faults in their own hypocrisy. For this betrayal Kurtz must be eliminated before “the horror” behind imperialism is exposed to both the people and the protectors of ‘the
The scars of the past have made colonialism and imperialism two of the many evil ‘isms’ of society, and thus a new reason must be given for ‘why we fight’. The truth is “most Americans don't want to police the world, [...] most Americans understand that if we don't at least help police the world, then no one's going to. [...] How far does the United States go? And when does it go from a force for good to a force of imperialism?” (Why We Fight). When asked the question why America is involved in the Middle East today the response is often along the lines of “[w]e fight for ideals” (Why We Fight). While it may be that “We fight as a nation because we perceive it is in our interest to fight. The key is “We don't like to think of ourselves as a militant nation” so America tries to conceal the reasons behind involvement with words like "freedom" and--and nice common values ... Who can be against freedom?” However America