Beneath the Shaddows : Blog #5

The Heart of Darkness is filled with imagery and deep descriptions of he actions and feelings that create feelings within the story. These images help capture the audience's attention; however, the text was so dense that I constantly found myself lost in the heavy use of literary devices. The use of metaphors, paradox, and imagery are meant to complicate the text in a way in which actually clarifies the meaning and purpose of the weary war, but they consequently clouded my basic understanding of the plot, and I walked away with an overload of unanswered questions. The movie "Apocalypse Now" clarified the meaning and impact of the story on the audience with the extreme use of light and dark. Each shadow held more than just darkness, it held mystery, uncertainty, and horror. By visualizing the contrast of light and dark, the movie evoked more emotion and suspense amongst the audience. What seemed unclear in the book, such as the inevitable hole that war digs into the lives of the warriors, became concrete within the movie. Although "Apocalypse Now" was more violent, the artistic set up of the scenes made the desolation more tangible.
I usually like to use my create my own images and ideas from the text, but in this case I got so distracted by the density of the text that it became too difficult to connect the images together in order to paint a picture as a whole. When Kirtz was introduced in the movie, his face was only partially exposed in the candle light, representing the duality within his character. The shadows of his insanity prevailed over the clarity of his stature, taking control of his intelligence and demonstrating his disappearance into the darkness.
Kirtz's death in the movie provided a stronger, more respectable ending because he didn't just fade away into insanity. Kirtz was a warrior and he wanted to stand up to his death rather than crippling away. Even though the end of the movie seemed open ended and sudden, it still provided a more justified conclusion. In a sense, the movie enlightened the darkness of the story, and allowed me to better understand the destruction of war.