Captain Willard example essay topic

The movie "Apocalypse Now", directed by Francis Coppola, is based on Conrad's novel The Heart of Darkness. The movie has to do with survival, obsession, and finding ones self. The inclination of this paper is to let the reader get a better understanding of how Captain Willard (the main character) goes through survival, obsession, and courage while trying to hunt down Kurtz. Captain Willard is on a mission into Cambodia during the Vietnam War to find and kill an insane Colonel Kurtz, as he experiences his journey of horror. In the past, Kurtz was an officer and a sane, successful, brilliant leader. Now he is insane after being corrupted by the horror of war and the cultures he met.

People used to look up to him and speak highly of him. Now everyone knows he is just a man who after fighting for his country became a crazed lunatic. Captain Willard is constantly trying to survive throughout this mission. He has to float in a boat through Cambodia during the Vietnam War. He runs into some natives along the way and has some encounters with them.

For example, the captain of the boat is killed by a spear, which is thrown, by a native. When he reaches the land that Kurtz has taken over, he strives very hard to survive. The fist images that you see are hanging dead bodies over the water, dead bodies along the shoreline. It is an island filled with mass murderers and cold-blooded natives. The natives there are so very much under Kurtz's power that they are willing to kill Willard in a heartbeat. Captain Willard develops an obsession for trying to find Kurtz.

It is not only a mission anymore, it is more of something that Willard must do for himself. Willard is stalking Kurtz in the movie, this kind of portrays Coppola stalking himself, raising questions which he feels compelled to answer but cannot. Because of his passion to find and kill Kurtz he becomes a marvelous leader. Everyone aboard listens, and goes to him. They are all risking their lives for Willard to get where he has to go.

Kurtz is another example of leadership. He is obsessed with the power and leadership he has over the natives. You have never seen such stronger leadership over an entire population, as you see in this movie. Kurtz reigns over these people as if he is God. According to Christianity, in the beginning of time all was dark and God created light. They worship him as if he is God; perhaps he created light for his tribe.

Willard while he is on this mission, he is also on a mission to find himself. He puts himself on a mission of his own to strive to work hard and to see if he can successfully accomplish the mission that is given to him. Before he is handed this mission, he is a loser, constantly drunk in his room, doing bodily harm to himself! This mission is a new start for him, which in a way is a new life. The movie overall is great! It really allows you to get inside Willard's head, and see what he is really going through.

There are a lot of people in today's society that would not be able to survive it through the first hour of the trip. Willard is a survivor and strives hard to reach his goal. With the courage that this man represents in the movie, enables him to complete this mission successfully without any harm. If an everyday person were to try to take the place of Willard's shoes, the mission would never be completed due to a lack of a significant amount of courage. This movie is a highly recommended work of art that teaches the audience many new and interesting things that take place during a historical war.