The Horror … The Horror

Of late, I’ve been saying that. An f’g lot (much like I say the f word … an f’g lot).

The temp outside’s -20. The horror, the horror.  “You have another test to do for that arm.” The horror, the horror. It’s Friday; time to get the weekly blog post done. Egads! The horror, the horrorrrrrrrrrrrr.

That got me to thinking, just who did say “the horror, the horror”? I know I’ve heard before, and not just once or thrice. Ah, let’s Google it—a search engine which has its merits most of the time, save for when you use its translator, which so f’g sucks. (Happy dysentery anyone? I kid you not … and that may just make for an interesting future post.)

So-o, tell us Tyler-san (I’m back studying Japanese), what’s the origin of “the horror, the horror”? It’s actually quite fascinating. Like, who knew?! わたし じゃない

The phrase first appeared in 1899 in Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness, which revolves around a trying trading journey up Africa’s Congo River. It signifies the nastiness of imperialism (also known as empire-building and colonization) and what transpires when one’s part of it. As such, the story doesn’t just convey how said imperialism taints affected countries and the people, but how it impacts those who take advantage of it.

A quick summary of a “story within a story”: on a boat bobbing along the Thames, several people are told a tale by a fellow passenger, Charlie Marlow, about his experiences on the third largest river in the world.

Upon arrival in Africa, he views firsthand the destruction and violence that imperialism wreaks. He learns about a man named Kurtz, who’s exceptionally skilled at acquiring ivory in the country’s interior, and is reputed not only to be ill, but possibly unhinged.

Marlow gets a crew together with the intent of finding Kurtz. As he travels, he encounters difficulties and complications, thus making the physical—and mental—journey a “heart of darkness”. Marlow successfully tracks down Kurtz, who is indeed ill and rather mad. When Kurtz agrees to return with him, he tells Marlow of “the horror, the horror”, the human evil he’d witnessed.

Sound familiar? Apocalypse Now, a riveting film (not for the squeamish) with Vietnam as the setting, follows Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) on a dangerous and crazy [in more ways than one] journey upriver to locate and kill Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). “The horror, the horror” are Kurtz’s final words as Willard hacks him with a machete.

I’m fascinated with the original story, so I’ll pick up the novella when making my next Amazon purchase(s). And knowing the history (though I do recall the ending of the movie quite clearly now), I’ll keep the f word [I do enjoy punting that word about when I’m in a dither] and attempt to lose “the horror, the horror” from my phrasal vocab … unless legitimately warranted.