The story Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad and the film Apocalypse Now, inspired by Conrad's story and directed by Francis Coppola, both imply the departure from civilization to enter a world of the unknown. The protagonists of the stories, Marlow and Willard respectively, undertake a mission in search of Kurtz, a man who in both texts is described as an evil genius. Most of the plot takes place on the river, as the protagonist travels with a crew on a long, slow boat ride through dangerous, dark jungles. This journey, presented similarly in both works, represents a journey from civilization and the ideal to a place of madness and insanity. The theme of madness is prevalent in both the story and the film, particularly evident in the native attack scene, and is used to emphasize the negative effects of imperialism. First, imperialism by European colonization in Africa along the Congo River is explored in Heart of Darkness. Similarly, Apocalypse Now explores imperialism through US intervention in Vietnam during the Cold War. With these events as historical backdrops in both texts, Marlow and Willard travel up a river and travel, far from comfort and safety, towards the mad Kurtz, who is a symbolic result of imperialism: a completely mad man. In their respective journeys, the protagonists and crew members slowly descend into madness as they get closer to Kurtz. A common scene in both works is the one in which the protagonists' boats are attacked by the natives. In this scene, Conrad and Coppola both illustrate the theme of madness by using the driver of the boat: the helmsman in Heart of Darkness and the chief in Apocalypse Nows. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad brings readers' attention to the helmsman... ...middle of paper......madness and theme. When Chief concludes that Willard's imperialistic orders and attitudes are hopeless, the screen is split, Chief's side is dark and grim while Willard's is light and green. This contrast mirrors Chief's state of madness contrasted with Willard's sanity. Coppola uses the technique again to contrast Chief's madness with the clear sky and sun shining past Chief towards the viewer. The skies are calm but Chief obviously is not, further underscoring Chief's madness. Madness is a major theme in both Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now. Conrad and Coppola both present this effectively with prominence using the character of the boat driver to portray the theme and also use subtle contrasting techniques to match madness with imperialism. Conrad and Coppola use similar ideas and effectively execute the presentation of the theme through their text.