What does Kurtz symbolize in Apocalypse Now?

What does Kurtz symbolize in Apocalypse Now?

Green Beret Colonel Walter E. Kurtz is the archetypal evil genius. ... Bitter at what he considered hypocrisy within the military, Kurtz chose the path of subversion and created his own colony and army, where he now plays God and makes decisions outside the subjective stain of morality.

What did Kurtz do in Apocalypse Now?

Kurtz located his army, including their wives and children, at a remote abandoned Cambodian temple which they fortified. From their base, Kurtz led attacks on the local V.C. and the regular N.V.A. in the region. Kurtz employed barbaric methods not only to defeat his enemy but also to send fear.

Who kills Kurtz in Apocalypse Now?

Willard In the film's final scene, Willard finds Kurtz alone and brutally kills him with a machete‐like blade, thereby giving rise to the popular complaint that, in the words of one critic, “we [don't] know why Willard, a sudden convert to Kurtz's undefined cause, ahead and kills him.”

Does Willard kill Kurtz in Apocalypse Now?

Most of Willard's time on the river is spent reviewing Kurtz's dossier, understanding and relating to his target more and more. The only action he takes prior to killing Kurtz is his murder of the Vietnamese peasant on the sampan—yet he only takes this action in order to preserve his mission's priority.

How did Kurtz go crazy?

Why does Kurtz go crazy? Marlow suggests that the loneliness and unfamiliarity of the African environment induces Kurtz's madness, and that his mind weakens the deeper he travels into the “heart of darkness.” As Marlow describes it: “Being alone in the wilderness... ... Kurtz's last words—“The horror!

Why does Kurtz say the horror?

The horror!" (3.43). Marlow interprets this for us, saying that these words are the moment Kurtz realizes exactly how depraved human nature is—that his inability to exert even a shred of self-control is the same darkness in every human heart.

Why did the army want Kurtz dead?

Willard, a paratrooper and Army intelligence officer, to journey up the Nung river and kill Kurtz. Willard succeeded in his mission only because Kurtz, himself broken mentally by the savage war he had waged, wanted Willard to kill him and release him from his own suffering.

What happens after Willard kills Kurtz?

Willard kills Kurtz, and in doing so, has liberated the Montagnard people from the war, and liberated himself. Willard leaves, knowing that his obsession with war has been killed. He takes back the one remaining soldier, a traumatized youth but at least one still alive and freed from the conflict.

Why did Kurtz go crazy?

Why does Kurtz go crazy? Marlow suggests that the loneliness and unfamiliarity of the African environment induces Kurtz's madness, and that his mind weakens the deeper he travels into the “heart of darkness.” As Marlow describes it: “Being alone in the wilderness... ... Kurtz's last words—“The horror!

Is Kurtz evil in Heart of Darkness?

The primary antagonist in Heart of Darkness is Kurtz, whose descent into madness makes him the clearest embodiment of corruption and evil in the novella, and ultimately the character that fully disillusions Marlow in regard to European conquests. ... Marlow learns more about Kurtz the further he travels.

Who is Kurtz in the movie Apocalypse Now?

• Colonel Walter E. Kurtz is the main antagonist of the 1979 film Apocalypse Now. He is based on the character of a 19th century ivory trader, also called Kurtz, from the novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Both the novel and the film deal with Kurtz's false deity and the destruction it brings to Kurtz.

Who is the bad guy in Apocalypse Now?

• Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, portrayed by Marlon Brando, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Francis Ford Coppola's film Apocalypse Now (1979). Colonel Kurtz is based on the character of a nineteenth-century ivory trader, also called Kurtz, from the novella Heart of Darkness (1899) by Joseph Conrad.

Is Kurtz evil in heart of Darkness?

• Green Beret Colonel Walter E. Kurtz is the archetypal evil genius. Whereas Joseph Conrad’s Kurtz in Heart of Darkness was gaunt, his flesh consumed by the jungle, Marlon Brando’s weight gain before the shooting of Apocalypse Now prevented a similar portrayal in Coppola’s film.

Is Colonel Kurtz based on a true story?

• Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, portrayed by Marlon Brando, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Francis Ford Coppola 's film Apocalypse Now (1979). Colonel Kurtz is based on the character of a nineteenth-century ivory trader, also called Kurtz, from the novella Heart of Darkness (1899) by Joseph Conrad .