Apocalypse Now is loosely based on the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. In the novel, the main character, Marlow, is traveling along the Congo River in Africa to meet the ivory hunter, Mr. Kurtz. Coppola's film is fairly faithful to the source material except for the portrayal of the character Willard, played by Martin Sheen. In the novel, at the end of his ordeal in Africa, Marlow becomes embittered towards society as a whole, of which he was once a compliant member. At the beginning of the film, Willard is already at that stage of his story arc, but he still has some traces of civility. Willard sinks even further when he meets and murders Kurtz, "With Extreme Prejudice." The film is a metaphor for a journey within oneself and shows how the self, in the face of war, darkens until it becomes unrecognizable. As they travel upriver, Willard and the PBR crew become more agitated and separated from reality. Everyone experiences their own type of mental exhaustion. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The first scene is when "Chef" leaves the boat, enters the jungle in search of ingredients, collides with a tiger and is never the same: his character hardens and he retreats further into drugs. Upon returning to the boat the "Never leave the boat" rule is sealed. “Lance” also takes drugs, but he also camouflages his face, signaling a changed self. “Clean” represents the young men who fought in Vietnam when they were just seventeen, those who were still children and knew nothing about the war. He's basically cannon fodder, like many of the troops conscripted into war. Pulito spends his time on the boat dancing to the music and annoying Willard. He becomes momentarily upset during the sampan scene. When Clean is killed, "Chief" breaks down emotionally and becomes a changed man. "Willard", already shattered by his first tour in Vietnam, becomes obsessed with his goal. Masks are used at key points in the film to symbolize the anti-self: the new identity that each character takes on to face the war, an act that requires a symbolic killing of the old self. The way Willard destroys his reflection in the first scene suggests a similar act of self-destruction. At the end of the film, numerous characters wear masks or paint their faces with camouflage, signs that they are no longer themselves. When Lance seems to finally reach his breaking point, he drops some acid and hides his face in camouflage paint. In the photojournalist's eyes, Kurtz can do no wrong. The photojournalist has been indoctrinated in Kurtz's philosophy and serves as a liaison character to bring Willard and Kurtz together. He is Kurtz's fool to the king and provides comic relief during the film's dark final scenes. Kurtz's face is often obscured by shadow or darkness, and when Kurtz throws Chef's severed head into Willard's bamboo cage, he does so while wearing face paint. At the end, when Willard prepares to kill Kurtz, he covers his face in mud. These masks highlight the dramatic transformation of the human self during war.