Blog 8 ARB

The term allegory is derived from the Greek word "allos" meaning other and is defined as a figurative action that conveys a specific meaning or message other than the literal way of showing that message. Apocalypse Now: Redux, is an allegory of the Vietnam war that represents the attitudes of the soldiers, the corruption of the government in charge, and the overall feeling about what and what it does to people.

The soldiers in Vietnam underestimated the strength and strategy that the Vietnamese soldiers and the Viet Cong contained. They went into the war thinking they would own the place and go home, but it was drastically different. This is clearly represented in the film when a squad goes and attacks a Viet Cong village so they can use the beach to surf. While there is chaos, death, and injured Americans, the commanding officer has one concern, seeing Lance surf the six foot cliffs that are crashing on that side of the beach. Secondly this is represented by the distraction of the Playboy Bunnies that come to give them entertainment, which truly end up being a distraction and as part of the allegory to show how much of a joke Americans though the war was. They shouldn't be trying to get with playboy bunnies when they could be killed at anytime while int eh jungle. Lastly, you can see their attitudes a not in a serious manner when they reach the bridge that is close to Cambodia and a soldier has music playing and he just decides that he will turn it down before he blows him up. They were in a battle zone and he has time to turn down a radio?

Another part of the allegory is the lack of leadership and corruption in the government. This is clear when they have a Colonel run off to Cambodia and can't be controlled by the American government so they have to send out one of their own to go kill them. You can also see corruption represented when the Patrol boat comes across and village boat that has food and animals and because they woman runs after Chef, they kill everyone on the boat. This a representation of how the American government felt about the Vietnamese people especially the civilians and that this wasn't a war the Americans should be fighting because they didn't fight like Americans, they fought like savages because Vietnam was truly a place of hell.

Hell brings us to the final part of the allegory and that is simply war is nothing but hell. The whole trip that Willard goes on represents him going into hell, and going head to head with the devil. He is sent on what some could argue a suicide mission to find someone that has been corrupted by the war and to kill them. In the film a soldier says "This is the asshole of the world", not better way to describes the lowest place on earth, hell, which has always been characterized to be in the fiery depths of the earth. I think the length of the film contributes to the whole journey for it is a long journey to hell and when he finally gets there, Willard realizes that he doesn't have to do it for the government anymore, but to do it for himself so he can confront this place that he has been sent to and to complete his mission and to realize that he no longer needed to be in the jungle like he expressed at the beginning of the film.