Geurnica- Pablo Picasso

so i studied geurnica in my art history class way back - i think it is fascinating. pablo picasso is one of my favorite artists first off. so geurnica was made in 1937 while the spanish civil war was taking place. i believe geurnica was one of the first terrorist bombings ever that was placed conciously on innocent civilians during war time - very scary for people. it was during the mussolini and hitler rise up. and the german nazi party was the group that convicted this crime. in this abstract piece of art and cubist style, picasso captures the pain and the grief and the chaos from the bombing of this city. im sure at this point, the world doesnt make much sense, especially considering there were never really bombings of innocent people like this, where people dont know what to do, theres pain everywhere, especially immediately after the bombing. picasso uses black and white paint as well - stays away from bright colors for a reason. the black and white captures the drearyness, the intensity, the darkness of this event. more so, the world. the black and white was also used to represent the newspapers (along with the mini writing in some places of the painting - how there were headlines everywhere while this war was going on, headlines of more people getting killed, more pain. the facial expressions on these figures, on the horse, they are present the grief and the pain. there is a cubist depiction of a woman locked inside a burning house - reaching for the window, but is trapped. this piece is also HUGE. it is like a giant mural. picasso shows the immensity - how this is the world, it affects the world - it is more than just an event, a small picture, but a huge mural, a huge representation of the pain, the sorrow, that is taking place in this confusing world. picasso's cubist style - the jagged edges, the abstract forms - just shows how misplaced this world is- how confusing and turmoiled. it is not as beautiful as the paintings from years before during the victorian age. now it is dark. it is crazy. pablo piccaso is a genius. 

Guernica - Pablo Picasso

What is Wright’s realization at the end of the novel? Do you agree with it?

this is a powerful ending. at the end wright realizes his loneliness to a depth that he never has before. during this rally, he goes through this experience of deep thought - he remembers his past, he asks about their meaning, he realizes that his whole life he has been so hungry for a new way of life. and he knows he cannot go outside of the world and try to fix it, he knows he cannot go out and simply fill himself up, or go amongst people try to understand it anymore. this is his issue. this is him, in this room, in this very moment - and he yearns for life - he yearns for true human life, he yearns for the unity of the world by everything within human life. every suffering, every fear, every joy, every meaning - he is so hungry for that unity with people. for that feeling of life. and he understands at the end of the book that everyone is united, even blacks and whites. so much is going on in the world at this point - a huge war is about to break out over the world, and even whites are suffering just as much as the blacks. in this moment, he sees the world and every human being, he hears the world outside of his bedroom. and within his loneliness - within his understanding of the world's unity, all he wants is just to express. he wants to connect with the world in some way - he wants to revive that unity. and the largest way he knows how to do this is his words. his writings. and he will write- because he knows that is where he can meet people, that is where he yearns to meet people - through those artistic ideas, through thought, through emotional and intellectual freedom, through understanding of actual human life. and he will do this, he will strive for this, and he will tell and respond to anyone who even gives any sort of response to him, even if it is just a small echo, a minimal response. he will fight and strive to banish the petty american hunger for things that are not real, the hunger that is only blind and ignorant to the life and thoughts around them. he will strive to awaken people to a hunger for life - for truth, for purity, for every kind of freedom - a hunger for the unity of all mankind through their freedom of life. 

Do you agree with Wright’s theory that artists and politicians stand at opposite poles?

im sure sure if the two professions can be qualified so exact - that they are necessarily opposites. but i think the point that wright is trying to make is the general belief of the artist or of the writer - that they are expresses. they YEARN to express. they yearn to inspire, to release. they have ideas in their minds that they want to make happen, that they want to write, that they want to paint. it comes from their passion. just as Wright, when he is in his sort of intellectual, expressive moods, when he has his realizations, he is passionate for life. he yearns for this ideal image that he has, for honesty, for truth. for pure human life. versus politics, which in wright's eyes, they are corrupt. the mind of the artist, which i believe this sort of mind exists even in the smallest bit in every human, is lost through politics. wright joined the communist party - because of his artistic views. he joined it because of its passion - but these politics, the complications, the corruption, the betrayal, and the deceit - they all existed. the pure passion of the heart, the passion for the unity of human life that wright yearns for is hidden within all the fear that is held in politics. within that fear, those ideals cannot be accomplished. wright believes in communism - he does, he believes that the world would be astounded once it was settled in a region. but he knows that through politics - it probably will never happen. those ideas are lost, and it becomes more about power and about fear rather than the original aim. 

the problem of humanity

in this chapter, particularly in this passage, Wright is incredibly insightful. he goes beyond what has been said in this book so far - he goes beyond all that race holds between people - all the negativity and suffering and distance it causes this world. he goes beyond that. wright states " i know that not race alone, not color alone, but the daily values that give meaning to life stood between me and those white girls with whom I worked. Their constant outward - looking, their mania for radios, cars, and a thousand other trinkets made them dream and fix their eyes upon the trash of life." so all that has been said up until now in this book has more or less been about how race effects the world. but there is much greater problem of humanity. what sets people apart are their daily values, are their purposes in life, of their hopes. for so much of America is hungry for, they put their eyes upon trash. they put their eyes upon things, upon immoral ideas. and things that wright values - real things, emotions, simple natural movements of the world - other people dont see. and these other people push him down at the same time and make him less than them. americans are hungry for the wrong things - sex, drugs, radios, cars, electronics, and trinkets of all sorts. and they miss all that wright speaks of - what is real. they miss meaning. that is the problem of humanity. 

the move to chicago. right now. is it beuno?

for nearly five years of his life, wright has been dreaming of going to the north. for years, it is has been his purpose for working and for really enduring the south. memphis was certainly different than jackson - a much bigger city, much different dynamic. but still the racial prejudices remained. wright was working and he was saving his money in memphis, he was being tricked and used by his boss and other whites, he was starving himself in order to save money, and he still was naturally forced to make himself inferior, to step aside for whites, to degrade and lessen who he was because of his environment. in living there, he also KNEW what he was doing - he knew the pain he was suffering. he knew the creulty he was living. and all he knew was suffering. he had had this idea in his head for too long. he had enough money and he knew it. when was he going to act? it was now or never. he had to force himself to just go or he never would. his mind, his fears, his thoughts would stop him. so yes. this is good. finally - he is acting. doing something - risking everything. but for the good. he is not stopped by his environment or his own self. 

is he justified in doing what he does? does he have a moral standard for stealing?

i dont know if wright necessarily had a standard for stealing - whether it was right or wrong. i believe he knew it was wrong - but the reason that he did not do it for so long i think was beyond it being his morals. especially later in the story, he didnt steal because he didnt want to be what the whites expected him too. he had been raised not to steal - it had been ingrained in him, but later in the story - he chooses not to because it is like whites want blacks to steal, they expect them to. and that just gives whites another excuse to justify blacks being bad. but after awhile, wright realizes that he really is not going to be able to survive in the south very much longer unless he steals. unless he gets money quicker in order to get out of the south. is he justified? i dont know if it is that black or white - obviously stealing is wrong. but the way that he is treated, and that huge fear of his - thats wrong as well. so what is more important? getting out of the south or abiding by general moral standing? getting out of the south is more important to him. in order to save his life, then technically he is justified. at this point in life - with all these societal struggles, it is so hard to determine in a black and white way what is right and wrong and is it okay to cheat whites out because they eventually will kill you. 

What does Grigg mean by "learn to live in the South?"

he means that the way Wright is living now, he is doomed to die or get killed. he loses job after job because he does not degrade himself to be lower than whites - both inwardly and outwardly. and now he is looking for a job, and griggs tells him he wont be able to get a job, let alone keep one, let alone have enough money for food to survive, unless he sells out to the white system - the system of the south. Griggs means that Wright needs to act BLACK. he needs to act like he knows he is less than all whites, that he needs to get out of their way. he doesn't have to believe it - but he needs to live in a way where he is inferior, where he doesn't question white people - and he treats them like every other black person treats them. if he doesnt keep his mouth shut, he will get killed, no question. 

Is Wright justified in refusing to say the speech?

i definitely think Wright is justified in refusing to say the speech. a major theme right now in this book is authority vs. what is right. basically a translation of the question that i am answering - is it right for Wright to sell out to the system of the inferiority that whites put on blacks? is it right for wright to sell out to the white system along with many of the other students and this principal? wright is being threatened whether he graduates or not to say this speech. but what is more important to him, his dignity or his safety/protection/image of the school. wright refuses to be inferior, to dehuminize himself in order to physically survive, to make himself less than he is because the white dominated world around him wants him to. he is justified. because though his external world is threatened, the dignity within him remains - he knows he is nothing but who he is inside. his morals, his values remain. 

Why was Wright so angry at Uncle Tom?

Since Wright is getting older and older, at this age, it seems that he is now able to understand more of what he deserves and what he doesnt deserve, justice vs. injustice. In the first chapter of black boy, Wright is hiding under the house terrified of getting a beating because he know he deserves it - he knows that what he did results in a punishment. But as he grows up and learns to defend himself and becomes more aware of the outside world, he realizes that certain instances are not his fault and he must defend himself. in chapter 6, as Wright is scouting for jobs and going into white people's homes, he is introduced into another world. the first home the white lady told him basically that he will never amount to anything and will never become a writer. she fed him moldy mollasses. in the second home, he was called such ill names and treated with such little respect, while the white spoiled family ate their bacon and eggs. immediately after those two encounters wright left those homes, knowing that he will not be treated that way. he does not deserve it. and so when this situation with uncle tom comes up, and wright was only just being himself, answering to toms question as he always would - he knows that he did not say or do anything that deserves an awful whipping. uncle tom does not live with him, he does not know wright, he is only angry. and instead of taking the whipping, wright will not stand for something he doesnt deserve. through his anger out of uncle tom's injustice, he is willing to fight.

Why was Wright so angry at Uncle Tom?