War is one of the most difficult things in the world to describe. As you can see in this painting, there are four or five soldiers surrounding a dead body. One of the soldiers is pointing a gun into the mouth of the victim. The victim also looks tortured and brutally killed. It is truly horrifying, but what the scariest part is that it is hard to tell whether the soldiers are laughing or crying. This is a paradox. A paradox is defined as something self contradictory. This is a paradox because these men look as if they are both crying and laughing at the sight of this tortured corpse. The artist intending this because they are trying to show that war contradicts itself because it is both the scariest and the most enjoyable thing in the world. It is both scary yet enjoyable because although many people are dying, war is also beautiful. Vietnam Veteran Tim O’Brien writes in his novel, The Things They Carried, “You admire the fluid symmetries of troops on the move, the harmonies of sound and shape and proportion … Any battle or bombing or raid or artillery barrage has the aesthetic purity of absolute moral indifference—a powerful, implacable beauty—and a true war story will tell the truth about this, though the truth is ugly.” (85-86). The beauty of war is that partially that it is not experienced by many people, and it happens so fast. It is one of the most beautiful things in the world but you only are able yo see its beauty if you experience war as a whole. Although it comes with beauty, it is still one of the most brutal experiences. This relates to this painting because it is a truly brutal experience but they soldiers are also seen laughing. The painting shows the soldiers seeing both seeing the beauty and horrors of war. It cannot be differentiated which supports the statement made by the artist that you cannot only see one side. You have to see both sides to truly understand war. This is what makes war paradoxical. You have to see both sides but the two sides of war are contradictory to each other. It is something that cannot be understood by many, which separates war from everything else in the world.
Smagon, Herbert. Occupation of the City Roessel, East Prussia, 1945. Digital image. Imgur.com. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://imgur.com/a/iVrgH>.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this piece. I thought that the picture captures the idea very well. I also liked the way that you used scary vs beautiful. This supports the views of images of war.I like that you touched upon the details of the picture rather than the whole picture.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this piece Andrew. Good job explaining how war is both beautiful and horrific. I would have to disagree with some of the points you made. The soldiers are laughing and crying but they aren't laughing because what they are doing is beautiful. The only beauty I can see from this would be the beauty of their camaraderie and excitement to kill with each other. I do agree with the fact that there is beauty in war. I think a better idea for this visual would be savagery. To me it is sick that these people are mutilating a body while laughing and crying. It shows the horrific side of war. Overall nice job finding evidence to support your thesis.
ReplyDeleteIdeas portrayed for this statement are really clear and insightful. The explanation of a paradox and the example using the picture really gives me a deeper understanding. The image without explanation is brutal but, with your insight I am able to see the paradox inside the image. The quote used from the book gives us of another example of a paradox within the war. In general ideas brought upon were clear and very informative.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that caught my eye was your image. The way that you had to arguments really improved your ethos because you addressed both sides. And it really helped because your image had possibly two sides to it. I really connected to your image because I had the same thought of whether they were laughing or crying also. Your title was very poetic and it really showed in your writing
ReplyDelete