An Exceptional Man? Kurtz and fascination with colonialism, from Conrad to Coppola

Abstract

In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Kurtz is constantly described as an exceptional figure: after excelling in the colonial enterprise in an outstanding way, he becomes its extraordinarily horrific incarnation in the eyes of the company and of the narrator Marlow, who each give expression to contemporary colonial anxieties concerning atavism and “going native”. Kurtz’s exceptionalism thereby gives rise to the fascination with colonialism itself that structures the text. However, Conrad undermines this fascination by inviting us to read the figure as the most banal and ordinary product of Western civilization, neither remarkable nor terrifying. This paper argues that the banalization of Kurtz is key to any critique of colonialism that might be read in this text. It then examines Francis Ford Coppola’s reprisal of the figure in the 1979 film Apocalypse Now to show that by exacerbating Kurtz’s exceptional nature, the film encourages fascination with the colonial enterprise and absolute power once again.

Keywords

• Joseph Conrad
• Heart of Darkness
• Francis Ford Coppola
• Apocalypse Now
• colonialism
• fascination