Postmodernism

The Postmodernism literary criticism is mainly focused on how relatively and unconventional narrative methods are used in the book - postmodernism is considered to start after World War II. This is particularly applicable to the The Poisonwood Bible, which was set in the 1960's and published in the 1990's. One of the more distinctive features is the 5 narrator system, Orleanna starting off each section and her four girls narrating the subsequent chapters. This also highlights the fact that father, Nathan Price, has no voice at all. None of the villagers have a direct voice in the book either. The restricted viewpoint, different flavors of American women, emphasize the lack of knowledge and misconceptions the Americans had it terms of the Africans.

Heart of Darkness vs. Apocalypse Now

Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now were both extremely captivating, perhaps not in the most pleasant ways. While HoD had numerous sections where I felt like throttling Conrad for his exceptional, but irritating, ability to discuss a single event for pages on end, I thought the book captured a relatively moral European's perspective and dilemma in terms of the Congo. The character's inner turmoil, inexplicable paradoxical scenarios and discrepancy between the actions and intentions were thought provoking. Even the odd yet purposeful portrayals of the Africans as a bundle of human parts had me scratching my head,  amused and perplexed (that's a good thing most of the time). However in AN, I did not feel that the movie portrayed the characters with the same depth that the book executed so well. Sure, we all heard Martin Sheen rambling in what seemed like - and probably was - a drug induced hazed about his paradoxical feelings of the Jungle. But it was not even close to Marlow's narration. Even Conrad's nameless characters, such as the European in the silk pajamas, had more intrigue than the pot head Chef. I did not care for the stupid surfer dude mentality that was most definitely not present in HoD. I think everybody's heart wept as they watched Clean die listening to his mother's audio tape, but that was an emotional one off. Chief's last words, stating that  there was a spear protruding from his chest, felt forced. 

Even more stark was the difference in the final settings: in HoD, the African village the AN's grandiose tribal palace. Conrad uses the village as a marker of the lack of European influence upon most of the aspects of the Africans life - of course the exception being the villagers continual hunt for ivory and Kurtz's presence. In AN, the arrival and eventual meeting of Kurtz was over dramatized for no particular purpose. The meeting of Kurtz is supposed to be anticlimactic as a way of contrasting the Europeans overdone hype and reality. The dark, gloomy yet glowing tall structure seemed completely out of place. A giant hut would have sufficed. Even Kurtz's death scene in AN seemed overdone. The simultaneous butchery of both the ox and Kurtz took away from the significance of his death. In HoD, the African slave running up and simply stating that "Mr. Kurtz he dead," while not going for the shock value, was very impactful.    

Despite my little rant about how I thought that Heart of Darkness was significantly better than its film counterpart, Apocalypse Now, watching the movie was an overall enjoyable experience. If not just for fun, AN highlight some of the previously under appreciated aspects of Conrad's novel.