Beginning of Essay
Joseph Conrad once wrote, “the individual consciousness was destined to be in total contradiction to its physical and moral environment” (Watt 78); the validity of his statement is reflected in the physiological and psychological changes that the chara ....

Middle of Essay
.... uncoiled … with its tail lost in the depths of the land” (Conrad ?), is “dangerous, dark, mysterious, treacherous, [and] concealed” (Karl 32). When the characters are unable to withstand the various temptations along this passage they helplessly sell their souls to corruption. In both the book and the movie, the various events along each individual journey help illustrate not only the physical deterioration of the environment and the characters’ health but also the psychological degradation of the characters’ conscience and consciousness. In both Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, the various dramatic shifts in ....