Kurtz

The biggest difference I’ve noticed between Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now is the way in which Kurtz is depicted. In the book Kurtz is a mystery up until the moment we meet him. Even once Marlow has interacted with him it is hard to tell exactly what his intentions in the Congo were and the intended only makes our idea of him less clear. The descriptions of Kurtz in the beginning of the book make him out to be a hero, while the descriptions at the beginning of the movie make him seem mad. I am not sure if our perceptions of Kurtz is going to shift as the movie continues but right now I feel that the mystery surrounding Kurtz is gone; he is no longer a voice. In both the movie and the book Kurt’s “methods become unsound” and there was even a photograph in the folder of Kurtz standing near many heads on sticks. These two characters are obviously meant to resemble each other but I can’t help but feel like the ways in which the other characters relate to Kurtz are too different for him to be the same man.