Based on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness written in the late Victorian era, Apocalypse Now! gives a modern interpretation of the novella. Francis Ford Coppola's film is set during the Vietnam War and examines American foreign policy in the 1960s. Conrad, on the other hand, recreates the effects of British colonialism in Africa. Both protagonists, Willard from Apocalypse Now! and Marlow from Heart of Darkness, travel upstream along the enormous trees that hug the banks on a mission to find Kurtz. As they travel deeper into the heart of darkness, they forget the rules and regulations of society and experience the absurdities of the evil and wilderness of the jungle and war. The similarities and contrasts between Willard and Marlow deserve further examination to see their transitions as characters, responses to the foreign land, and the causes and effects of meeting Kurtz. In the novella, Marlow begins in the present on a boat where he is sailing back to England. . Marlow, with his “sunken cheeks, yellow complexion,” reflects and tells the story of his voyage to Africa to the crew on board (Conrad 66). He reveals that through his aunt, Marlow gets a job with the Company as a captain. Marlow's only mission was to travel across the Congo River to Africa and bring Kurtz back to England. Apocalypse Now!, however, introduces a mindless, debilitated, and drunken soldier, Willard, who is awaiting an assignment in the Vietnam War. Willard abuses alcohol until he is finally called upon to find and execute Kurtz, a high-ranking but "crazy" general according to the US military. Marlow embarks on a journey along the Congo River and Willard on the Nung River, both of whom witness the atrocities. of foreign invasion. Marlow if...... in the center of the sheet ......d. In the film, Willard points out that Kurtz is “clear in mind but crazy in soul” (Coppola). The claim that Kurtz is a “broken man” is continually reinforced. He was first separated from society and then from himself. In the end, Willard kills Kurtz and Kurtz dies as an honorable soldier. However, this does not occur in the story where Kurtz dies naturally from malaria. Aside from some differences between the characters, setting and time period, director Francis Ford Coppola remains faithful to Conrad's theme of isolation and the innate natural brutality that all human beings have. own. What Marlow and Willard have in common is their determination to move forward. Through observations and personal experience in Africa and Vietnam, Marlow and Willard highlight a person's susceptibility to falling to the dark side when isolated from society.