Step inside your mind and into the library of books you've read. Which one best represents the painting below and why? You must use a quote from the book chosen to back up your choice. You may step outside of the classical book shelf to make your choice.
Although I haven’t read this novel in a few years, this painting reminded me of “Purple Hibiscus” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. In the painting, I observe two characters, dangling over the ocean. One, with their face scratched out, is holding up the other, comatose, close to falling in the water, had it not been for their partner. These two characters remind me of Kambili, the narrator of the story, and extremely religious father, who Kambili only refers to as “Papa”. To preface the story, Papa rules over Kambili’s house with a strict, abusive iron fist, controlling his wife, Kambili, and her brother to the point of physical and mental breakdown. Papa is a preacher, and takes his religious views to the extreme, using them to shame and control his children into mindless, moldable beings for him to show the public, like puppets on a display. Kambili had grown up thinking that feeling hurt meant she was being loved, shown by when she says, “when the tea burned my tongue, it burned Papa’s love into me” in Chapter one. In this painting, I see Kambili as the slumbering, or comatose figure, and Papa as the one carrying her. In his mind, he felt that through the abuse and pain he raised her on, she would only be aided and helped, and therefore grow into a successful member of society. Truly, Papa’s harsh teachings only furthered Kambili from a normal life, and taught her a warped perception of love and happiness. Kambili was destroyed before she had the chance to grow. - regan a. allen
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an interesting book! I enjoyed reading your interpretation how how this book relates to the painting. -Emily Ally
DeleteI really enjoyed this book and I really like the interpretation of the painting in comparrison to the book!
DeleteEmily Ally
ReplyDeleteBlog Three
The painting below is sought to be captured with the idea of one or two people saving each other. . A book that can represent this painting is the “The Book Thief.” In this book there is a little boy named Rudy Steiner who reminds me of one of the heroic men depicted in the painting. Rudy is kind and loyal, specifically when it comes to Liesel. He clearly cares about her, and he often sticks by her side and tries to protect her if necessary. When Viktor Chemmel begins berating Liesel, Rudy tells him to leave her alone, and when Viktor tosses Liesel’s book in the river, Rudy doesn’t hesitate to dive in after it, not because it holds any value to him but because he knows it’s important to Liesel. They care so much about each other that they would gladly give their lives, and all that they have for the other person.“A book floated down the Amper River. “A boy jumped in, caught up to it, and held it in his right hand. He grinned. He stood waist-deep in the icy, Decemberish water.“How about a kiss, Saumensch?” he said.” Here Rudy gallantly proves his love for Liesel by rescuing her book from the freezing cold river. Although she didn’t kiss him for saving her book the irony is that Liesel does kiss Rudy but only after he is dead. Liesel has such complicated emotions over Rudy. I feel that Leisel is also depicted as saving Rudy because she lets down her walls to confess her true love for Rudy. The relationship between Rudy and Liesel is a strong, moving and dynamic one, and one that keeps the reader attached and involved in the story up until the very end.
Cameron Walters
ReplyDeleteThis picture reminds of a book that’s called The Giver. The picture is of a person that’s seemingly being saved by a character that’s face is being blurred out. This is interpreted that the savior is not appreciated like they should be by the person being saved. It’s putting an emphasis on the one being saved while the person doing the saving is being put to the side and is looked at as not important to the other. I interpret the giver in this way as at the end of the book the main character, Jonas, saves Gabriel from being killed by taking him Elsewhere. This is the same because Jonas is being saved. It seems the opposite but if thought about Jonas does not have a reason to leave without Gabriel so really Gabriel is saving Jonas by giving him a reason to leave. This goes with the theme of the picture as Gabriel is put as a second thought as the savior while Jonas has the emphasis on him.
Interesting how you mentioned that the person who is saving the boy has a covered face. It emphasizes the idea that you don't always need to know who is saving you, just that there will always be someone out there who is willing to help. -Thomas
DeleteThomas Stewart
ReplyDeleteThis picture reminds of a book called "The Cay." The story is about a young boy Phillip who is shipwrecked on a castaway island with an older man named Timothy. They work as a team, with Phillip completing tasks that Timothy cannot, and Timothy grants Phillip with advice and wisdom from his long experience as a sailor. In the picture, there is larger figure carrying a young person. The large person reminds me of Timothy saving Phillip because without Timothy's wisdom and protection, Phillip would have quickly perished. "Now, please. You must lie down and rest. What has happened will go away. 'Tis most natural temporary." This is what Timothy tells Phillip after Phillip goes blind. Without Timothy's support and advice, Phillip would not know how to react in many situations in order to survive on the island.
the island and ocean settings are very similar in each work. -Maggie
DeleteJohn Biesecker
ReplyDeleteThis picture reminds me of the book "Fahrenheit 451". Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel about a futuristic American society. In this society, books are outlawed and firemen burn any book that is found. The man character is one of these firemen who becomes disillusioned with his role of censoring knowledge, and eventually quits his job and works to protect the books. This reminded me of the image because of the darkness and dim mid I associated with the picture, which is similiar to a dystopian society.
I like your comparison to the themes of each work. -Maggie
DeleteThis painting reminds me of the book, “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes in a metaphorical sense. In this book the main character, Charlie, undergoes experimentation in a science lab to see if they could enhance his intelligence with a drug. Charlie was considered mentally disabled due to his lack of intelligence and was often compared to his lab mouse counterpart, Algernon. Throughout the story we follow the journey of Charlie through his journal entries to see how he rapidly improves over the course of the book and eventually declines when the drug proves to only have short-term effects. This book reminds me of this painting because Charlie is constantly trying to prove himself throughout the story, and once he receives the drug he is also constantly trying to not let the intelligence get the better of him. In this painting I see Charlie as the man desperately holding on to life by the rope, with the rope being a metaphor for Charlie’s morals as it is the only thing keeping Charlie grounded. This can be seen in the quote, “Ill be famus and my name will go down in the books,” as Charlie struggles with his new identity as a man of intelligence. The water in this painting reminds me of the intelligence and the new life thrown at Charlie in this book as he struggles to stay above water in a sense by remaining the person at heart that he has always been. -Maggie
ReplyDeleteFor some reason this painting reminds me of the book "Titanic" by Diane Hoh. This painting reminds me of this book because of it being over the ocean and with the way the man is holding the lady. When I first saw this painting I thought about the scence from the book where Jack is holding onto Rose on the side of the boat and Jack says "Promise me now, Rose, and never let go of that promise" This painting in my eyes shows a man holding a woman and saving her from the waves of the ocean. This related to the Titanic because Jack holds onto Rose in order to keep her alive. -Caitlin
ReplyDelete