ption that it could waste what it viewed as insignificant little people and preserve its own image in the world. Along with that is the growing realization, since the Tet Offensive of 1968, that the U.S. was somehow way off the mark (Worthy 24)." American Culture views it self as "correct", and we see ourselves as powerful police of the world. Our culture looked down upon the Vietnamese because they were more simple than us, just as Europe and Marlow looked down on the Africans. Believing ourselves to be superior, we had a lot of trouble dealing with the discovery that we are not. Coppola makes a point to show us that the Chief of a boat armed to the teeth was killed by a native in a tree who threw a spear. Not even an "advanced" Navy boat can defend itself against some "simple" natives armed only with spears. This opens Captain Willard’s eyes to the horror of the situation he now finds himself in. Even more intriguing, however, is the similarity between the transformation of the characters in Apocalypse Now, and the cast and crew that created it. In Hearts of Darkness, (a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now.) Eugene Coppola becomes the narrator ( a Marlow or Captain Willard) and Francis becomes Kurtz. "Francis believed that only if he could duplicate Willard’s experience, could he understand his moral struggle. In other words, he had to lose control of his own life before he could find the answers to the questions that his narrative asked (Worthy 24)." Coppola’s main horror was his fear of producing a pretentious movie. "Eleanor repeatedly calls the making of Apocalypse Now a journey into Coppola's inner self. Coppola, like Kurtz, is regarded as a deity. Moreover, while Willard stalks Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, Coppola stalks himself, raising questions which he feels compelled to answer but cannot, finally announcing his desire to "shoot himself. " He means suicide, but the cinematic connotation of the term, ...
