The power of will in Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now The story of Heart of Darkness was adapted for film after many failed attempts. (Hearts of Darkness, Coppala E.). Finally, director Francis Coppala collaborated with his friend John Milius to write the screenplay for Conrad's masterpiece. The two came up with Apocalypse Now, using a more modern setting than the original story which was set in imperialistic Europe. The modern setting was that of the Vietnam War. Apocalypse Now focuses on the madness of a decorated colonial soldier. “Kurtz intended to enlighten the natives, but instead he gives himself over to the primal temptations of the jungle and goes mad.” (Hearts of Darkness, Coppala E.) Joseph Conrad's fiction, as seen in Heart of Darkness, represents the teachings of the German philosopher and idealist Arthur Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer thought that the world had two distinct entities, both parts of the whole [world]. First there is the world of representation or appearance. This is the phenomenal world which is made of tangible objects. For Schopenhauer the second entity, being the thing in itself, is the will and is the cause of everything. {Frost}. "The phenomenal world [world of representation] is simply an image; it reflects the will, the real world." (Sahakian). Schopenhauer, being pessimistic in outlook, argued that the will was a force that "creates everything and destroys everything in its insatiable demand for "'More!' [More than he knows, he only knows that he wants more.]" (Palmer). All human actions are the result of will. Seen through the character of Kurtz, the world of will manifests suffering, evil and madness in the world of perception. There are m...... middle of paper ......, Francis Copala and JohnMilius Paramount, 1989.Palmer, Donald Looking at The Unbearable Heaviness of PhilosophyMade Lighter. 1988. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1994.Sahakian William S. History of Philosophy, New York, Barnes and Noble Books, 1968.Schopenhauer, Arthur Essays and Aphorisms. 1970. Works consulted: Boyle, Ted E. Symbolism and Meaning in the Fiction of Joseph Conrad 1965 . "Folcroft, PA; The Folcroft Press, 1969. Johnson, Bruce Conrad's Models of Mind. Murfin, Ross C. Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness: A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989. Wollaeger, Mark A. Joseph Conrad and the fictions of scepticism. Stanford, California; Stanford UP, 1990.