Apocalypse Now Analysis Essay Example for Free

Apocalypse Now Analysis Essay The line â€Å"Mistah Kurtz – he dead† from T. S. Elliot’s poem ‘The Hollow Men’ refers to one of the movie’s main characters: Mr. Kurtz, a European trader who had gone into â€Å"the heart of darkness† ie the middle of the vast Vietnamese jungle with European standards of life and behavior. Because he’s alienated from the morals and spiritual strengths he cannot maintain his sanity and soon turns into a barbarian. â€Å"Eyes they dare not meet in dreams† – in my mind, these are the eyes of the innocent Vietnamese whose death they ordered. They’ being the American soldiers who, throughout the duration of their journey through the jungle lost their sanity and were brainwashed because of the weapons they were given. What I was particularly fascinated by in the film ‘Apocalypse Now’ was the way the good can somehow turn into the evil, not on their own, but because of their surroundings. â€Å"[.. ] We were in the jungle, there were too many of us, we had access to too much money, too much equipment and little by little we went insane –said by director and producer, Coppola at the Cannes film festival in 1979. Even the director had, little by little, gone insane being exposed to the Vietnamese jungle for so many years. The making of the film had taken more than 10 years and $30million to create which had brought Coppola to attempted suicide a couple of times. The film is based on the novella ‘Heart of Darkness’ which took place during the Vietnam War, where the American and the Vietnamese soldiers showed no mercy when it came to a matter of life and death. Throughout the film, I realized that the main character, Captain Willard, sent to assassinate Colonel Kurtz, began to be more and more captivated by Kurtz’s achievements and was beginning to think like him as he was exposed to immoral atrocities of the Great War. When General Corman described Willard’s mission to him he told him â€Å"In this war, things get confused out there, power, ideals, the old morality, and practical military necessity. Out there with these natives it must be a temptation to be god. Because theres a conflict in every human heart between the rational and the irrational, between good and evil. The good does not always triumph. Sometimes the dark side overcomes what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature. Every man has got a breaking point. You and I have. Walter Kurtz has reached his. And very obviously, he has gone insane. † This quote reminds me of Dante’s Inferno mentioned in the poem â€Å"The Hollow Men† – a journey through the different circles of hell depending on the type of person one was and the type of crime they had committed during their lifetime. The man is clear in his mind but his soul is mad. † Like Alberto Giacometti, Kurtz and Willard develop two faces during the time of the war. The only difference is that Giacometti didn’t need a war to show this, his dual personality was natural in criticizing himself, his paintings and his sculptures. Whilst watching the film I found it mainly disturbing how these men, men with families, men who had peaceful souls, could casually blow off the head of a Vietnamese person without feeling just a tiny bit of hurt in their hearts. They could â€Å"kill without feeling without passion without judgment without judgment! Because its judgement that defeats us. † The fact that these characters, sent out on mission through the rivers of a foreign place, were simple men, one a chef, the other a surfer, and the other a sailor gives the audience the feeling that this could happen to anyone. Being placed in the jungles of Vietnam with nothing but weapons would turn us into these animalistic beings with only one instinct: kill to survive. Do you know that if is the middle word in life? If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you This film is, in fact, all about losing one’s mind, being brainwashed by the immoralities of society, to be converted into an emotionless killer. It’s about the delusion of what an evil man is in the normal person’s eyes compared to what an evil man is in the brainwashed personâ €™s eyes.

How does the language and stage directions of this section reveal the :: English Literature

How does the language and stage directions of this section reveal the tensions between the two characters. How does the language and stage directions of this section reveal the tensions between the two characters. How far does the section prepare the audience for what is about to happen? From the opening stage directions you get a very clear indication of what Miller is trying to show about Eddie. His flat is described as clean, sparse and homely. The use of a phone box in the set is relevant as the audience can expect it to be used in an important way in the future. After Alfieri’s opening speech there are hints that all is not right and this leads the audience to think about the future. â€Å"A distant foghorn blows.† This gives a sense of impending disaster as the foghorn conveys confusion, a foghorn is used when you cannot see where you are going which is a lot like Eddie in the later stages of the play. As Alfieri is rounding off the opening speech he states: â€Å"sat there powerless as I, and watched it run its bloody course.† The audience knows the future will contain blood and tragedy. Towards Catherine, Eddie is fatherly and protective. When Catherine first says hello to Eddie the stage direction says that he id pleased and therefore shy about it. Catherine wants to hear Eddie’s approval of new skirt as his opinion means a lot to her. He calls her beautiful and states: if your mother was alive to see you now, she wouldn’t believe it. This is a relevant statement as he again later refers to her dead mother. Eddie is worried about the way Catherine walks and this leads to him saying â€Å"you aint all the girls,† he believes she is his girl. He brings her to tears in this argument and he then states â€Å"I promised your mother on her deathbed,† and â€Å"you’re a baby.† He constantly mentions his duty to her dead mother so she will do as he says. At this early stage of the play the audience is probably not aware of the fact Eddie has major feelings for Catherine, yet they are able to pick up on certain things in the language and stage directions. The stage directions give a clue to the actor how to present the lines. Beatrice and Eddie’s relationship is not one of a happily married couple. After she hears the news that her cousins have landed she states: â€Å"Im worried about you,† leading the audience to think why this could be and may be due to problems.

Sarnath

The Buddha went from Bodhgaya to Sarnath about 5 weeks after his enlightenment. Before Gautama (the Buddha-to-be) attained enlightenment, he gave up his austere penances and his friends, the Pancavaggiya monks, left him and went to Isipatana. [4] After attaining Enlightenment the Buddha, leaving Uruvela, travelled to the Isipatana to Join and teach them. He went to them because, using his spiritual powers, he had seen that his five former companions would be able to understand Dharma quickly.While travelling to Sarnath, Gautama Buddha had to cross the Ganges. Having no money with which to pay the ferryman, he crossed the Ganges through the air. When King Bimbis ¤ra heard of this, he abolished the toll for ascetics. When Gautama Buddha found his five former companions, he taught them, they understood and as a result they also became enlightened. At that time the Sangha, the community of the enlightened ones, was founded. The sermon Buddha gave to the five monks was his irst sermon, called the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.It was given on the full-moon day of Asalha PuJa. [5] Buddha subsequently also spent his first rainy season at Sarnath[6] at the Mulagandhakuti. The Sangha had grown to 60 in number (after Yasa and his friends had become monks), and Buddha sent them out in all directions to travel alone and teach the Dharma. All 60 monks were Arahants. Several other incidents connected with the Buddha, besides the preaching of the first sermon, are entioned as having taken place in Isipatana.Here it was that one day at dawn Yasa came to the Buddha and became an Arahant. [7] It was at Isipatana, too, that the rule was passed prohibiting the use of sandals made of talipot leaves. [8] On another occasion when the Buddha was staying at Isipatana, having gone there from R ¤Jagaha, he instituted rules forbidding the use of certain kinds of flesh, including human flesh. [9] Twice, while the Buddha was at Isipatana, M ¤ra visited him but had to go away discomfited. [10]

Why Mothers Come Back From The United States - 1853 Words

It has been noticed across the United States that new mothers are returning back to work earlier, rather than staying home on maternity leave for the approved 12-weeks. There have been many reasons expressed as to why mothers come back to work only six weeks after having a child, some of them astounding after seeing how we compare to the rest of the world. New mothers feel the pressure at work and they will miss out on a job promotion since they were gone for a marked period of time. Others are single parents and just cannot afford to stay at home without any additional income. Even mothers that are married and the spouse has a steady income, this can still be a factor as to why the mother would return to work early. Because they†¦show more content†¦Offering paid maternity leave is not only beneficial to the mother, but also to the company. I would like to go over the following points: address the current Family and Medical Leave Act; understand why maternity leave is important but also why it is better to offer this type of leave paid; as well as show how the United States compares to the United Kingdom and Australia. The Family and Medical Leave Act was first enacted in 1993 by President Bill Clinton. This act was instituted to ensure that those that needed the time off could actually take the time off and still have their job after returning from leave. The FMLA was started with many stipulations, most that many are familiar with. First, FMLA offers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave that ensures the mother that their job is protected. The law also states that the associate applying for leave must qualify to take advantage of FMLA. If the associate qualifies, this means they work for a covered employer and must meet the following requirements: â€Å"Has worked for the employer for at least 12 months; Has at least 1,250 hours of service for the employer during the 12 month period immediately preceding the leave; [A]nd [w]orks at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles† (United States Department of Labor). FMLA also states that this benefit is a