Week Four Entry
Do you think Conrad and Coppola are identifying one of the root causes of continuing violence in the world today?
This question is actually a lot more complicated with many more formidable underlying issues than I originally thought. I'm willing to accept that there are influences in the arts, media and pop culture that perpetuate the concept of violence being an acceptable part of nature and human society however this does not mean that it has any underlying or direct influence on violence present today. Obviously more prevalent causes of continuing violence in the world today would be the media, politics and religion. The arts simply mirrors these issues which can have different affects on different people, however, I would believe that it is the intention of such authors to deter such tensions rather than strengthen them.
There is an element of a seemingly constant badgering of violent images such as in Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness as they tend to use imagery to horror their audience in effect depicting the actual weaknesses of human society. There is the constant imagery of death, “his eyes rolled … his mouth foamed a little”, which is perhaps making society little by little more tolerant of these images. However, at the end of the day I find watching the news harder than reading Heart of Darkness or watching Apocalypse Now, I think that’s because I like to think that this kind of violence, death and destruction is slowly fading, which it obviously is unfortunately not.
This week I've decided to comment on Lauren’s LiveJournal as she touched on a lot of issues I would have otherwise over looked. “Both Conrad’s “Heart of darkness” and Coppola’s “apocalypse now” depict human nature that has lost contact with its soul” is such an accurate and insightful comment made by Lauren. This is such an important factor of these works as it is the fundamental key to understanding human nature and what drives us.
Heart of Darkness addresses the issues of, as you mentioned, imperialism and colonial enterprise and depicts like many other artists throughout the ages the folly and greed of those in power. Whether it is the English in 1890 or the Americans in 1959, there are these controlling influences striving for economic expansion, influence and power that exemplifies the root of violence present today, as it has been throughout all of history. The issues that these authors explore are ones that have been evident throughout our entire history. Conrad even exaggerates this point through his explanation of the Romans as he states “I was thinking of very old times, when the Romans first came here, nineteen hundred years ago… trireme in the Mediterranean, ordered suddenly to the north; run overland across the Fauls in a hurry; put in charge of one of these craft the legionaries… they must have been dying like flies here”(1893).
The great thing about these works is that they not only depict the devastating effects of the war, but they stealthy demonstrate the causes and key influences. As the English ironically thought they were civilising heathens they were destroying a culture, while they were really just trying to gain more land, trade routes, influence etc. At the individual level, perhaps more applicable to the immediate individual was the character of Kurtz in his hunt for ivory. This demonstrated a seemingly well-educated, focused and well-respected individual succumbing to the glories of power, influence and money, which he realised in his last breath as he cried, “The horror! The horror!”
This question is actually a lot more complicated with many more formidable underlying issues than I originally thought. I'm willing to accept that there are influences in the arts, media and pop culture that perpetuate the concept of violence being an acceptable part of nature and human society however this does not mean that it has any underlying or direct influence on violence present today. Obviously more prevalent causes of continuing violence in the world today would be the media, politics and religion. The arts simply mirrors these issues which can have different affects on different people, however, I would believe that it is the intention of such authors to deter such tensions rather than strengthen them.
There is an element of a seemingly constant badgering of violent images such as in Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness as they tend to use imagery to horror their audience in effect depicting the actual weaknesses of human society. There is the constant imagery of death, “his eyes rolled … his mouth foamed a little”, which is perhaps making society little by little more tolerant of these images. However, at the end of the day I find watching the news harder than reading Heart of Darkness or watching Apocalypse Now, I think that’s because I like to think that this kind of violence, death and destruction is slowly fading, which it obviously is unfortunately not.
This week I've decided to comment on Lauren’s LiveJournal as she touched on a lot of issues I would have otherwise over looked. “Both Conrad’s “Heart of darkness” and Coppola’s “apocalypse now” depict human nature that has lost contact with its soul” is such an accurate and insightful comment made by Lauren. This is such an important factor of these works as it is the fundamental key to understanding human nature and what drives us.
Heart of Darkness addresses the issues of, as you mentioned, imperialism and colonial enterprise and depicts like many other artists throughout the ages the folly and greed of those in power. Whether it is the English in 1890 or the Americans in 1959, there are these controlling influences striving for economic expansion, influence and power that exemplifies the root of violence present today, as it has been throughout all of history. The issues that these authors explore are ones that have been evident throughout our entire history. Conrad even exaggerates this point through his explanation of the Romans as he states “I was thinking of very old times, when the Romans first came here, nineteen hundred years ago… trireme in the Mediterranean, ordered suddenly to the north; run overland across the Fauls in a hurry; put in charge of one of these craft the legionaries… they must have been dying like flies here”(1893).
The great thing about these works is that they not only depict the devastating effects of the war, but they stealthy demonstrate the causes and key influences. As the English ironically thought they were civilising heathens they were destroying a culture, while they were really just trying to gain more land, trade routes, influence etc. At the individual level, perhaps more applicable to the immediate individual was the character of Kurtz in his hunt for ivory. This demonstrated a seemingly well-educated, focused and well-respected individual succumbing to the glories of power, influence and money, which he realised in his last breath as he cried, “The horror! The horror!”