How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Apocalypse Now.
Quote #4
KILGORE: If I say it's safe to surf this beach, Captain, then it's safe to surf this beach! I mean, I'm not afraid to surf this place, I'll surf this whole f***ing place!
Kilgore is so high on the power he wields that he's wildly confident. He's the only major character whose sense of control isn't totally shattered by the war.
Quote #5
KURTZ: I expected someone like you. What did you expect? Are you an assassin?
WILLARD: I'm a soldier.
KURTZ: You're neither. You're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill.
Kurtz expresses his contempt for the commanders in charge of Willard. He doesn't think they're serious about winning the war; they're just trying to settle accounts with Kurtz, who really does want to win. Kurtz has long since quit being controlled by what his commanding officers think he should be doing.
Quote #6
KURTZ: And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it...I never want to forget. And then I realized...like I was shot...like I was shot with a diamond...a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought, my God.. the genius of that! The genius! The will to do that! Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we, because they could stand that these were not monsters, these were men...trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love...but they had the strength...the strength...to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men, our troubles here would be over very quickly.
Kurtz knows that if he had soldiers ruthless enough to chop off the inoculated arms of children, he would be able to win the war easily. In a flash of insight, he recognizes the simple effectiveness of raw power. He doesn't see this as a moral issue at all.