Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Studying these photos has engendered in me a completely different feeling from that engendered in me by Beloved. These photos shock and awe, they create a sense of abject horror at the pit of my stomach. In particular the picture of the dead black man sitting on the chair, his face painted, his head propped up by a stick, disgusted me the most. The sheer disregard for a fellow human is just shocking. I don't think any human could ever do this another. It seems that the only these white men were able to commit such an act was to completely dehumanize their victims, hence the facepaint.
Beloved, too, especially during Sixo's lynching, evokes a feeling of horror. But whereas a picture can only offer a still picture with no story, literature can draw you in to a character, make you learn to love that character. Ultimately when such horrible acts are enacted on that loved character, the gut-wrenching disgust is ten-fold. Ultimately these photographs engendered in me a feeling of horror not as intense as the feeling engendered in me by Beloved.
Beloved, too, especially during Sixo's lynching, evokes a feeling of horror. But whereas a picture can only offer a still picture with no story, literature can draw you in to a character, make you learn to love that character. Ultimately when such horrible acts are enacted on that loved character, the gut-wrenching disgust is ten-fold. Ultimately these photographs engendered in me a feeling of horror not as intense as the feeling engendered in me by Beloved.
Friday, February 17, 2006
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