In support of this thesis, I showed the Valkyries scene from Apocalypse Now . Now and Conrad's Heart of Darkness . In both, some traumatic event at the heart of the narrative drives the various levels of further narration, as if each new level seeks to find meaning for the trauma through storytelling. Let me also add that Jasmine Criswell, a former student in this class, made the superb suggestion that Coppola is exploring the separation of reality and desire in the film, a separation that is one feature of the postmodern condition. This alignment leads to a separation from the suffering of others.
Desire is no longer about intimacy but about impersonal destruction.
The discussion about whether Apocalypse Now idolizes war or critiques it leads us to the question whether the Heart of Darkness idolizes or critiques imperialism. This is a debate that has gone on about Conrad's book almost since its publication. Consider, in particular, the following excerpts of Chinua Achebe's famous criticism of Conrad's novella .