Before me, I have a photograph of The Raft of the Medusa. The original work of art is an oil on canvas painted by Theodore Gericault during 1818 and 1819 in France. This masterpiece stands at 16 feet by 23 feet and 6 inches. In his creation, Gericault depicts the moment when the survivors of the French vessel, Meduse, see the ship that was appointed to their rescue. For this painting, Gericault used a variety of cool and warm tones, and harmoniously contrasted them with cool and warm tints. The colors he chose to use are mainly tones and tints of blues, reds and yellows. Observing the image, you see that he chose not to use hopeful colors, like green or pinks. Instead, the choice of colors gives the painting a gothic vibe, a dark finish, which ties to …show more content…
On the side of the raft closest to the horizon you see the longing for survival from the men aboard it. The few men alive reach for the help that is coming towards them. On the opposite side of the raft farthest from the horizon, you are introduced to sorrow, due to the loss of a loved one. The sorrow can be seen in the facial expression of the man that holds on to the corpse of who could be a brother or a friend. Altogether, the choice of tones used for the water, the clouds, the men and their garments allow you to feel the magnitude of the tragedy.
In resolution, I must admit that upon first glance, I was not a fan of The Raft of the Medusa. My taste for art resides in the vibrancy of colors, which Gericault’s painting lacks. Upon further research on the history and the meaning of the painting, I have grown to appreciate the work of art. This painting as a perfect example of why knowing the story before you judge is of great importance. Had I not researched what the story and meaning behind the painting was, I would have continued to dismiss it and not get the opportunity to truly appreciate the effort and time that Gericault invested in
The author shows the reader the sea just as the sailor does as death, but more than death
Some of the most intriguing stories of today are about people’s adventures at sea and the thrill and treachery of living through its perilous storms and disasters. Two very popular selections about the sea and its terrors are The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger and “The Wreck of the Hesperus” by Henry Longfellow. Comparison between the two works determines that “The Wreck of the Hesperus” tells a more powerful sea-disaster story for several different reasons. The poem is more descriptive and suspenseful than The Perfect Storm, and it also plays on a very powerful tool to captivate the reader’s emotion. These key aspects combine to give the reader something tangible that allows them to relate to the story being told and affects them strongly.
The seagulls in this story are used to symbolize human frailty and nature’s indifference to it. As the men continue their journey through the fierce waves, Crane incorporates the use of imagery to describe the nature around them by giving it gloomy colors that are often used to represent death. Toward the end of the story, as the men are still hoping to be rescued, they encounter a shark swimming around the boat that symbolizes that something bad is about to happen. At the end of the story, readers learn that the Oiler, Billie, dies, but if one pays close enough attention to the detail used in this story there is enough evidence to foreshadow the death of one character. In this story, “The Open Boat,” Stephen Crane uses imagery and symbolism through the use of colors and objects in nature to depict the characters lack of power over
“The Open Boat” uses vivid metaphors to enhance both the magnificent, yet overwhelming nature of the sea. Crane successfully illustrated a situation that isolated the four men, encouraging them to use the elements of the sea that they do not understand. The four men are stranded and isolated, with no help except what they are
We’re given short or no descriptions of the crewmembers. All we know is that the cook has fat forearms and the captain is injured. These descriptions leave it up to the reader to create these characters in their mind, in doing so they are creating a personal connection. In many ways the reader can relate to the crewmembers. The correspondent (also the narrator) says," If I am going to be drowned, why…was I allowed to come thus far...” Its descriptive and forceful and relatable so its makes people start thinking about their own situations. People usually try their best but they don’t always succeed. If anything we do is never going to be good enough, then why try? At this point people begin to claim and demand an explanation from whatever god they worship. Current situations often trigger thoughts of our past. The correspondent relates this to his childhood when he saw a dying soldier and felt as if it was not important but now when he’s in the situation he realizes how “stern, mournful, and fine” it really was. The only thing that is given specific descriptions constantly is the boat and the water. Crane personifies non-living things and gives them more importance than the main characters! The crewmember’s perspective/descriptions of the boat and water change throughout the story. The water is chaotic, bumpy, and dangerously high in the beginning but as the men begin to loose hope and challenge the gods, the water is no longer mentioned and if it is its calm. Also, the seagulls are flying around and the weather does not change regardless of the men’s situation. Therefore enforcing the idea that nature is indifferent to man. The crewmembers desperately use confirmation bias, the tendency to search for or
For as long as I can remember, there has been a woman, who goes by Medusa. She is from Athens, Greece. Medusa obeyed all the Greek gods & goddess, all except the goddess of wisdom, which is my official title. I am Athena, goddess of wisdom. Medusa is established as woman who is all about herself. Throughout my tale you will understand why they conceive this opinion.
The colours used in the artwork are earthy tones with various browns, greens, yellows, blues and some violet. These colours create a sense of harmony on the...
Although the painting itself displays many impressive artistic styles, it is also important to consider the artwork’s historical context. The Raft of the Medusa depicts the aftermath of the shipwreck of the French naval frigate Médusa, which crashed off the African coast. The desperate passengers then built a makeshift raft from the pieces of the destroyed ship, which is the moment depicted in Géricault’s painting. Particularly, The Raft of the Medusa was a contemporary piece that commented on the practice of slavery and the incompetence of the new French government in the early 19th century. Géricault, an abolitionist, sought ways to end the slave trade in the colonies. The anti-slavery cause was well known at the time and was highly promoted by the abolitionists throughout France. Thus, due to Géricault’s repugnance towards slavery, it is only fitting ...
“There is no safety in unlimited hubris” (McGeorge Bundy). The dictionary defines hubris as overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance. In The Odyssey, Homer embodies hubris into the characters Odysseus, the Suitors, and the Cyclopes. Odysseus shows hubris when he is battling the Cyclopes, the Cyclopes show hubris when dealing with Odysseus, and the Suitors show it when Odysseus confronts them at his home.
The lantern and the snow are both bright and shiny, showing that they carry some hope, but the skipper’s eyes are emotionless, spiritless, and dead. There are no lingering emotions in the skipper’s eyes; no sadness, no remorse, not even any more confidence. Unlike the daughter who still has “salt tears in her eyes” (line 82), showing that she dies painfully and with a heavy heart, the skipper has no emotion mentioned. The author’s description of the skipper’s eyes finalizes how he felt nothing towards what he had brought his daughter into. This connects back to Longfellow’s message as it depicts how overconfidence can destroy a person without control. Judging by how the skipper felt no emotion in his final moments, he wasn’t aware of what was going on around him. The skipper still wasn’t aware that he destroyed himself; it happened uncontrollably. Longfellow also uses imagery to describe how the fisherman saw the daughter’s hair. It was like “brown sea-weed/ On the billows fall and rise” (lines 83-84). Readers feel sympathy and pity for the daughter whose body is helplessly being swung around by the waves. An innocent and loving being is destroyed because of the skipper’s
From the beginning, the four characters in the aftermath of a shipwreck do not know "the colour of the sky" but all of them know "the colours of the sea." This opening strongly suggests the symbolic situations in which human beings are located in the universe. The sky personifies the mysterious, inconceivable cause of reality , which humans cannot understand, and the sea symbolizes the earthy, mundane phenomenon, which humans are supposed to perceive. The symbolic picture generated by the above conflict implies the overall relationship between the individual and nature. In fact, the daily life of human beings is at the mercy of the uncontrollable waves of the sea; while, at the same time, the essential part of reality remains unknown to feeble, helpless humans.
The composition concentrates mainly on the foreground .It has three main points of interest, the small rowing boats, the artificial island and the floating barge .It also has a stretch of trees and foliage in the background painted in a much lighter fashion. Monet?s painting has a very different composition from Renoir?s painting of Grenouillere, which was done at the same time; Renoir?s painting is focussed much more on the artificial island and the people on it. Monet uses a combination of thick bold brushstrokes and small short soft brushstrokes; this creates a nice varied look and helps give a good impression of perspective. The tone is also very varied as it is Very light in some areas, but it is also quite dark in others, such as the shades on the barge. The use of dark shades in the foreground makes the boat look so realistic and quite 3D. Although the middle ground is flatter this helps add to the perspective. The water ho...
First, White uses imagery throughout his essay to create an effective visual of his experiences at the lake. To start his essay, White reflects on his childhood memories of the lake when he and his family visited every summer: “I remembered clearest of all the early morning, when the lake was cool and motionless, remembered how the bedroom smelled of the lumber it was made of and the wet woods whose scent entered the screen.” This passage enhances
The story’s theme is related to the reader by the use of color imagery, cynicism, human brotherhood, and the terrible beauty and savagery of nature. The symbols used to impart this theme to the reader and range from the obvious to the subtle. The obvious symbols include the time from the sinking to arrival on shore as a voyage of self-discovery, the four survivors in the dinghy as a microcosm of society, the shark as nature’s random destroyer of life, the sky personified as mysterious and unfathomable and the sea as mundane and easily comprehended by humans. The more subtle symbols include the cigars as representative of the crew and survivors, the oiler as the required sacrifice to nature’s indifference, and the dying legionnaire as an example of how to face death for the correspondent.
Non-conformity in The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea, Medea, and The Stranger