Decay as a function of imperialism on the Arizona-Mexico border. To learn more, visit http://www.nomoredeaths.org/
"'I came upon a boiler wallowing in the grass, then found a path leading up the hill. It turned aside for the boulders, and also for an undersized railway-truck lying there on its back with its wheels in the air. One was off. The thing looked as dead as the carcass of some animal. I came upon more pieces of decaying machinery, a stack of rusty rails. To the left a clump of trees made a shady spot, where dark things seemed to stir feebly.'"
- Heart of Darkness
There's a little something called decay in life. It's a nicer way to say death, yes. It means degeneration. Downward progression. Dying, more specifically, the process of dying. In Heart of Darkness, everything's decaying, morally, emotionally, and physically--yes, how could we forget the physical in such a setting-centered work? In the spirit of the novella's central motif, you could say the heart of darkness is sucking everything into its cruel ambiguity. Lofty ideals of civilizing and saving the "savages" decay into outright, thoughtless murder (exploitation). Decay defines this imperialism. As things decay, they become harder to recognize, just how Marlow doesn't know what to make of the head on Kurtz's gate. Consciousness decays--Kurtz entrances Marlow with his profit-making and philanthropic (work-the-natives-to-death) exploits. But death is everywhere. Remember, decay is what happens when things are dead.
Death is everywhere in the Vietnam War, as a process. Right at the start of Apocalypse Now, the pristine tropical forest burns in clouds of flame, completely smothered in combustion. What better example of decay? Nature (leaves, branches, twigs, dirt) turning to ash. A little chemistry now: Combustion releases energy and breaks down structured compounds into simpler, freer substances. In the same way, Captain Willard and his men, part of the hierarchical U.S. military, act in every way possible contrary that structure. They curse. They listen to soul music while on duty. They surf in the middle of an airstrike. They're human in the most pathetic, ridiculous way. Looking at the even bigger picture, the United States's supposedly noble effort to stop barbaric communism decays into barbarism itself. Paralell to this reality, stopping the "savages'" ways decays into savagery Irony, anyone?
War and violence equal decay. When matter decays, it changes shape and appearance. You really can't put your finger on it. In both Heart of Darkness and Apocalyspe Now, as the action falls (or rises) more and more downward, reality and morality de-morph. The characters don't really know what they are anymore. Close to the wreckage that Marlow observes above, he noted, "'They were dying slowly--it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now--nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom." He's talking about the worked-to-death natives. Their dying dehumanizes them, just "shadows." Decay equals dehumanization?
Here's another layer of irony--the decay in Europe's imperialist sacking of Africa and the Vietnam War comes from an overwhelming societal desire to progress, to move forward, to grow. This movement towards progress just leads to degradation, both of the oppressor and the oppressed. You see, decay is supposed to happen when you leave things alone and let them rust.
A shining steamer. Smooth metallic digging tools (for ivory) A brand-new shotgun. A glimmering American flag.
Pus. Mud. Dirt.
It's called decay.
