Paint Me Like One of Your Goya Girls

Who doesn't love artwork with sinister atmospheres? Francisco de Goya creates pieces that really speak for themselves in a way. They speak in a dialect that only the true intellectuals (or those who think they are intellectual) can understand. For example, some people claim that some of Goya's works are able to reveal the "darker aspects of humanity" as a whole. Well, after examining Goya's most famous and darkest works, here are a couple that even false intellectuals will be able to understand.

The first piece comes from Goya's Los Caprichos titled "Chiton" or "Hush". This is a tiny etching only measuring 8.5 by 5.9 inches. In the etching, there is an elderly person, who is clearly very old based on the cane they hold and how hunched their back has become, and a strange figure in black who appears to be "hushing" the old man or woman. To practically anyone, this is a picture of death. They are probably right. However, delving deeper into the meaning reveals a more darker truth. The truth revealed by this painting is that death is quiet. Death makes no noise so how can you avoid it? Even if you can see death coming, how do you know for sure that death is not also creeping up behind you? Thinking in that sense, it makes this etching all the more disturbing the more you think about it.

The second piece hails from Goya's collection of "Black Paintings". This particular painting is called "Two Monks" and is 144 by 66 centimeters. While the title is not that disturbing, the faces of the men are what create concern. The man in front has a slightly distorted face on his left side with a black eye and enlarged ear. The other man in the back looks more like some freaky fantasy creature from The Lord of the Rings. It appears that the bat-like creature-man in the back is screaming into the normal man's ear, but he is not reacting. As monks are known for being very religious individuals, this piece may be a reference to the malicious nature found in religious figures back in the day. The man in front representing the wise old man we see but is deaf to the pleas from his followers. The man in the back represents the evil intent of religious figures such as intentions of gaining wealth and power. Together, the two monks represent the true nature of religious authorities.

Cruelty with Feeling

I would say that the majority of human beings would say that torture is a very wrongful act. There's a reason why the torturing of prisoners of war was made illegal by the Geneva Convention. Inflicting pain upon another human being when they cannot fight back is not only wrong, but cowardly. Unfortunately, the slave named Gordon, as well as many other Africans at the time, was brutally injured while working for his master. This popular photograph, appropriately named "The Scourged Back", helped not only the Americans back then, but also Americans nowadays understand the environment that slaves lived in during the early development of the United States.

While there are other images of the brutalities enacted upon other slaves, this one in particular is very striking. Besides his back, another key feature of this photo is his face. It shows no signs of anger or sadness or any emotion at all. Gordon's stoic expression illustrates a notion of acceptance; like he knows what happened to him and he knows that he is ultimately powerless to stop it. The fact that this is a photo also helps lend to the emotional reality created by the image. Photos allow a viewer to be caught in the moment. While a well-crafted painting or sculpture is just as effective at transmitting emotions and messages, photos have developed more of an appreciation as went on. In the modern world, we rely on photos rather than hand-made images to increase our knowledge and awareness of the world around us. It would be hard to imagine a whole news story about a police chase when every image shown is a painting.

Hand-drawn images, like the one on the left above, can often be exaggerated, though not all the time. They do convey an empathetic viewpoint, but it's not as strong as seeing a real image of a real human being with real actions and emotions. For example, if you could imagine seeing an image of one of your loved ones that has been killed in a car accident, you would probably feel more emotional over a photo rather than a hand-made sketch. Also, there were other photos taken back then, such as the image on the right above, but they fail to capture the rawness of the treatment of slaves. Taking photos of tortured slaves was not a popular activity, especially considering that the owners of the antique cameras were white Americans at the time. "The Scourged Back" was used as a propaganda tool to gain support for the abolitionist movement. If the photo on the above right was used instead, it most likely would not have been as effective as Gordon's picture was. Gordon's photo showed Americans just how miserable the lives of slaves were and that change needed to be done.

Tale of Two Twains

When I think of Mark Twain, I think of him as an original rapper. Twain's method of writing sounds just how people would be talking on main street. For an upcoming book analysis, I have chosen to analyze Mark Twain's book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I've yet to read the story myself, but I have read Twain's other infamous book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. From what I understand, Huckleberry Finn is basically a sequel to Tom Sawyer, but instead, we as the audience get to experience what happens to Huck after he and Tom claim the robbers' gold.

 My main reason for choosing this book is for selfish reasons. Since reading Tom Sawyer, I've been wanting to read Huckleberry Finn but just never got around to actually reading it. However, this assignment gives me a good push of motivation to actually pick it up and dive deep into Twain's words. Another reason for choosing this book is the way Twain writes. When he creates conversation, he writes how the words would be spoken during that time period. For example, if someone from the South (like most of the characters are) were trying to say "he does not really understand me very much", Twain would write it out as "he don' real' un'erstan' me too much". This method of writing a real conversation is what really drew me into Twain's book. The speech gives a lot more depth to each character rather than everyone speaking in proper English.

Based off Tom Sawyer, I expect this story to play out in a similar fashion. I didn't look up any plot summaries, because I don't want to ruin the story for me. However, I expect Huck to get involved in crazy adventures, but I don't know how he will resolve them. Tom has more of a brash personality and takes life by the horns. Huck on the other hand seemed more careful and not as energetic as Tom. That might just be me though. It's been a few years since I've read Tom Sawyer. I don't even know if Tom will play a major role in Huck's story. If Huck is on his own, I imagine he will be more analytical to solving problems or he might just run away. If Tom is present though, Tom will probably be solving the problems and Huck will just be there for the ride. Hopefully the sequel will live up to the amount of enjoyment as it's predecessor.