"We cut 'em in half with a machine gun and give 'em a Band-Aid. It was a lie and the more I saw them, the more I hated lies."- Willard

Apocalypse Now shows the justification and humanitarian effort behind the Vietnam War for lies. Calling murder humane and indifference justice is clearly mad, but telling a lie seems better seeing the madness. Lies abound in the river and pile up like mud at the delta, which is as far from the darkness as the river allows. Captain Willard becomes fascinated with the river's dark end and his fascination leads him to the heart of darkness. The truth, the darkness, captures him. Here he sees the clarity and madness-the truth.

"She talked about weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways, till, upon my word, she made me quite uncomfortable. I ventured to hint that the company was run for profit."

Marlowe hints at the truth before he even reaches Kurtz. Obviously he hates the lies too and can hint at the truth. Marlowe, with his hatred for lies, is drawn up the river away from the civilizing and toward the demoralizing. At the river's end, Marlowe can see the truth-madness and clarity.

Marlowe and Willard both evince the dive into true human nature. Both characters hate the lies and become fascinated by darkness. Darkness, in both Apocalypse Now and "Heart of Darkness," is the truth. Both works show the dark truth behind what humans beleive is a better nature. "Heart of Darkness" shows that Imperialism wasn't about civilizing, but in truth was about stealing. Apocalypse Now shows that Vietnam wasn't about freedom but, was about control. Both expose the lies and the vanity in civility that the lies shine from. The vanity to think oneself more righteous than any other. The vanity that gives one the right to kill without murdering, take without stealing, and speak without saying. The vanity that makes civility the savagery.