Abstract

One type of recurring storytelling mechanism is that which leads the reader/ viewer into the slow discovery of a secret. Even when the discovery does not prove to be completely conclusive, the path towards the reader’s/viewer’s approach to the secret remains significant. In European literature, one of the most emblematic works from this point of view is undoubtedly Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, where the use of narration in the first person guides and at the same time makes the reader lose his way. It is no coincidence that, although in different ways, this narrative choice has also survived in the film transposition of Francis Ford Coppola, Apocalypse Now.