A World of Human Beings

Many questions arise when discussing both morality and war. Especially when dealing with film, the question arises of whether or not morality is judged on an ethical or a utilitarian scale. Because when dealing with war it becomes more and more difficult to classify morality under the categorical imperative, I will argue that the motives of the characters in Apocalypse Now act in a consequential and utilitarian manner, favoring the happiness of most in the outcome of the war.

Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) enters the movie as a flawed character morally. He is clearly struggling with a decision made in the past… the decision to follow the orders of the military. In following these orders he had murdered someone “off the record” for the greater good of the cause of the war, and is being asked to do so again. He must take out Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) who has camped deep in Vietnam, starting a backward and almost monarchical society of his own, scarily mirroring a primitive ground worshiping him as a god. Kurtz had previously taken out three Vietnamese civilians which had not been targets yet had stopped militant activity in the area. Now he ruled it. Upon meeting Kurtz, Willard gets the same inspirational speech that had sold several soldiers and the people of the society in the past, yet Willard ultimately follows his orders and does what he is told in hopes that what he is doing is for the greater good. Ethically, murder never flies, especially in regard to a higher-ranking officer in war; however Willard knows that by following orders he is progressing the war in which his 

country is fighting.

The death of his squad mates alone serves as “justification” for the murder of Kurtz, but not a moral right. Throughout the film, we as an audience build strong connections with several of the characters that ultimately lose their lives on this classified journey. A shared frustration rings out on the boat as they first realize that they are struggling simply to kill one of their own men, yet they continue. As the world around the characters shifts from ordered to without order to a backwards order, the one thing that remains is Willard’s sense of a utilitarian justice that needs to be served. When passing through the battle without order, Willard inquires, “Who is the commanding officer here?” only to hear back, “aren’t you?” This is the first sense of personal freedom to follow orders or take control of what he believes is justice in this case, and he persists. Ultimately Willard has made the decision at this point to follow through with his orders as that is what is justice and for the greater good.

An interlude in the journey appears as the squad stumbles upon a French plantation. They are served great food and treated as allies as they should be. While this part in the movie seems almost unnecessary, it continues Willard’s sense of self-control. The French are staying out of the war in that they are taking a piece of land for themselves that they can call their own. This mirrors the land that Kurtz controls. The difference being that it would be an unethical and irrational decision to contest the French’s decision to post in Vietnam; however it is a Utilitarian decision to kill Kurtz and free his followers from the brainwashing to which they have been exposed.

When Willard is ultimately imprisoned in Kurtz camp, he hides in the darkness, which slowly comes to mean the knowledge of good and evil. While darkness usually signifies mystery and evil, Willard grows to understand the truth. Just as Kurtz had been portrayed in the dark earlier as he prophesized to Willard, there is now a truth in the sense that all forms of order, especially Kurtz’s, are ultimately the same. Where there is power, there is order, and where there is order, there is oppression, which usually leads to skepticism and questioning. So yes, Kurtz is right in his betrayal of the army, but he knows what Willard must and will do. He knows the idea of the utilitarian good that will arise in the war heroes returning from Vietnam. He knows, so he allows Willard the opportunity to strike him down. Even dying from malaria, Willard and Kurtz both know he will be struck down. Will it free those under his oppression? Will it bring back those lost on the journey? Will it win the war? No, but following order, especially in a time of war is essential to the balance of the ether of happiness in a world inhabited by human beings.