When discussing the psychology of the soldiers in Apocalypse Now, I can not help but be drawn towards the complacency, albeit, the sheer patriotic, spaghetti western madness the soldiers conjure up. Who for instance, does not love Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore? His penchant for surfing overrides any instinctual behavior he might have to find cover despite the mortar shells raining around he and his petrified soldiers.
Exhibit A:
Similar to O'Brien and Komenyaka's work, Apocalypse Now has a surreal quality; an attempt to unveil the war from the soldier's perspective. What we see is a mixed psychology - a focused objectivism foiled by fear, childlike disregard, or perhaps, like Colonel Kurtz, personal clarity. Willard best clarifies his personal struggle when he recalls:
“Part of me was afraid of what I would find and what I would do when I got there. I knew the risks, or imagined I knew. But the thing I felt the most, much stronger than fear, was the desire to confront him.”
Much like in The Things They Carried, the soldiers are more afraid of showing and succumbing to fear than anything else. While Rat Kiley has a perfectly good tooth removed as a display of manliness, the soldiers in Apocalypse Now jaunt around in helicopters, ripping through the jungle and unloading ordinances on Viet Cong and rice farmers in a majestic display of Promethean triumph.
Exhibit B:
Personally (while I cannot vouch from experience) I believe Apocalypse Now, O’Brien, and Komenyaka all accomplish the task of depicting the soldier’s psychology - standing at the edge of reality and twisted impossibilities. Do you also agree they accomplish this? Let me know in the comments below:
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