Willard reads a letter from Col. Kurtz to his son that reveals his hatred of the system that once extolled him. Col. Kurtz explains that while the Army has accused him of murdering the four Vietnamese double agents, the charges are, "in the circumstances of this conflict, quite completely insane." He continues:
"In a war, there are many moments for compassion and tender action. There are many moments for ruthless action. What is often called "ruthless" . . . may, in many circumstances, be only clarity: Seeing clearly what there is to be done and dong it — directly, quickly, looking at it."
Col. Kurtz feels that in murdering the double agents, he was simply exhibiting a soldier's "clarity": The agents were captured, they were enemies, and were therefore killed. What Kurtz detests is the Army's purposeful lack of "clarity": He knows that they cannot (in this war) afford to appear "ruthless" and are therefore attempting to smear his name and color his actions as insane. Col. Kurtz ends his letter with an expression of his hatred of lies: "As for the charges against me, I am unconcerned; I am above their timid, lying morality and so I am beyond caring." Later, Col. Kurtz remarks, "We train young men to drop fire on people but will not allow them to write 'fuck' on their airplanes, because it's 'obscene.'" This hypocrisy enrages Kurtz to the point where he can no longer abide by the "timid" moral guidelines of the Army, just as Conrad's Kurtz can no longer abide by the "methods" suggested to him by the Company. Both men detest the lies of their superiors: Recall Kurtz's remark to the Manager when he arrives at the Inner Station to "rescue" him: "Save me! — save the ivory, you mean. Don't tell me. Save me!" His subsequent remark to the Manager about his health ("Not so sick as you'd like to believe") is the equivalent of Col. Kurtz's letter: Both the Company and Army want to pretend that their "Kurtzes" are insane rather than admit the truth, which is that both men see their respective organizations for what they truly are.
