Violence Now

Perhaps the closest similarity between A Heart of Darkness and "Apocalypse Now" is the way acts of violence skew boundaries from the civilized to the uncivilized. Violence surrounds both of these works, and these acts of violence question the sheer meaning of being civilized. In the case of "Darkness," the Belgium Company claims to act civilized and many members believe they are somehow helping the natives by trading with them. Company members on the boat like the Pilgrims kill many members of the Kurtz's faction, but the natives referred to as "canibals" by the crew show no acts of violence. The irony of these seperate group's names versus the actual acts of violence they commit illustrates the questioning idea of what makes a group of people civilized. These Pilgrim's violence even made them numb to death, when Marlow's helmsman (a African) is killed, the pilgrim quickly walks away to change his blood soaked clothes. Surely no civilized people would turn their backs so quickly on freshly murdered human. Yet the company that claims to be civilized seems the exact opposite. In "Apocalypse," the setting of the vietnam war toys with the line between what is civilized and what is not. Americans believed they were helping a country from an evil, uncivilized communist government, when in reality many soldiers were the uncivilized ones. The movie displays the slaughter of the innocent by Marlow when he shoots a wounded girl in order to not have a set-back in his mission. His use of violence reflects his lack of civility, he is so uncivilized that he is willing to kill a little Vietnamese girl to get to Kurtz quicker so he can murder him. "Apocalypse" reflects how war can change someone into a violent, killing-machine. Marlow, a civilized man at home with a family, transforms into a killer because of the violent bloodshed of war. Violence skews the boundaries here because the viewer realizes that America is attempting to help people reach a peaceful civilization in Vietnam, but the only way to a civilized life is through violence. The soldiers are also civilized for the most part on the boat: listening to music, waterskiing, and doing drugs. But when the time comes to fight these seemingly civilized soldiers change into violent beings.
Both of these works illustrate that violence can seperate what is civilized and what is not. Violence blends the line between the civilized and uncivilized so much that in violence one cannot tell the difference between the two.