In Apocalypse Now . Kurtz knows that his health could deteriorate, but instead of slowly withering away, he chooses a quick and prestigious death. His killing mirrors Frazer's observations of the ritual murders of the divine kings of the savages. According to Frazer “man created the gods in his own likeness and being himself mortal, he naturally supposed that his creation was in the same sad situation” (Frazer 308). This view is perhaps surprising and is directly opposed to that of Western culture, which believes that God created man in his image, rather than man creating his gods. Coppola's Kurtz, being placed as far away from Western civilization as possible, places himself in the position of a god among the Cambodian people and, because he still believes in his own mortality, does not fear or attempt to kill Willard; it almost seems to welcome him in some way. Frazer also specifically identifies customs in Cambodia and states that “mystical kings…are not permitted to die a natural death” (310). For savages, dying a natural death or death caused by disease has no glory; it simply shows that a once-great king or godman can slowly dissolve into nothingness. Kurtz, now a savage, and the other savages who worship him believe that "the god-man must be killed as soon as he shows symptoms that his powers"