Thursday, May 15, 2008

Analysis of the Pictures

To me, the first picture, "Morning Sun", is similar to the ideas and concepts seen in "Soldier's Home". Krebs, who had recently returned from war, reflects on everything he once did and enjoyed, no longer finding pleasure in any of these activities, except for sitting by himself and watching other people go on with their lives. In the picture, the young women, who seems to be about the same age as Krebs, is looking out of the window towards a city, as can be seen from the partial view of the building. Although she is looking out into through the window at the morning sun, which is supposed to be hopeful and symbolic of a new beginning or a rebirth each day, the woman's mood doesn't reflect this idea. This shows a contrast in the picture, as the depressed Krebs contrasted against his happy and functioning town. This contrast helps add to the themes of loneliness and feelings of nothingness that we were discussing in class today with the other two stories. The completely bare walls and dull colors against the woman, who stands out in pink, establish the feeling of loneliness that can be seen on the woman's face. Just as the young people prefer the daytime in "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" and "Soldier's Home", this woman seems to prefer it, although just like Krebs, she seems to only want to watch others live and remains alone in the shadows, which can be conveyed through the many shadows she casts on the bed and the wall.


Unlike the woman in the first picture, the man in "Sunday" puts himself in the public eye. This picture reminded me of the old man in "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" because he, too, likes to sit alone but in a public area, like the bar. This man also seems older, contrasting any ideas of possible hopefulness or hiding from the public eye in the first picture. The themes of loneliness and nothingness are still here, however. What I first noticed when I looked at this picture was how barren and empty the street seemed to be, especially in the middle of a road that looks to be in a bigger city. All the windows are drawn up and closed and the title, "Sunday" implies that it is a day meant to be spent with family and not out on the streets. Because this man choose to go to the streets instead of bonding with family, he is showing isolation from other people. Although he looks to be dressed nicely, as if he might have been going or gone to church earlier that day, the fact that he is sitting by himself instead of with his family on a Sunday shows his loss in religion and faith, the same thing that happned to Krebs in "Soldier's Home". His body language is also very similar to the woman's in the first picture. They both have knees and arms drawn close to their bodies, showing their confinement and isolation from the outside world and other people. This also helps to show their feeling of loneliness towards the world. While both picture use time of day and lighting to portray a happy and bright mood, like Hemingway's story's do, the people portrayed in these pictures and stories all have a contrasting feeling of loneliness and despair that is emphasized from the bareness and empty feeling of nobody else and nothing else being around them.