Power lies within
In contrary
Power lies within all humans but it is the actions they choose which reveal their morality. Nature impacts humanity as it appears that people lose sense of it according the environment. Once humanity is lost people become blind and uncivilised. This is shown in the novel “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy and related text painting, “Third of May” by Francisco Goya. Both text share a biblical themed meaning and explore the power of humanity in nature and the divine power. Both display the loss of control and authority when human morality is destructed by nature. These themes increase our understandings of power and the concept.
As a human being it is important to carry our pureness in humanity even if the environment rejects to.
The natural world in ‘The Road’ is bleak and unable to provide humanity with resilience and beauty. A universal representation of the unnamed Man and the Boy takes journey in a world where it is described as dark, cold and gray. “Nights dark beyond darkness and days more gray.” McCarthy not only enhances the greyness, but also expressing the decaying world sick by using the term “cold glaucoma”.
McCarthy portrays a post-apocalyptic landscape where the father and son are to contend with murderers and thieves during their journey. They eventually are faced with cannibalism which reveals the loss of trust and faith in humanity and nature. Evidence is shown through The Boy when they escape from a house full of people kept like livestock for slaughter. “They are going to eat them aren’t they.” This is a scene of terror where cannibalistic behaviour shows that nature provides nothing to eat. The road then becomes a more brutal place horrifically displaying dead body parts and corpse left on the road. “By day the dead impaled on spikes along the road”. These entities no longer appeal as a human being and is rather visualised as animals.
Similarly the world created in Goya’s painting is also very dull and depicts violence visualising the fear and death by mass slaughter. This painting was applauded for showing a brilliant touching portrayal of man’s inhumanity to man and illustrated a powerful anti-war symbol. Contrasting to the novel, the victims are represented only to Catholics or Christians. As well as given the names as rebels due to their belief, considered wrong in that era.
Goya’s central figure is stood out the most as his outfit is emphasized with the usage of vibrant colours, white and yellow. His pose acts as an assertion of his humanity but is rather being killed along the side of the road, no different than an animal. The hands and arms play an expressive role. ‘V’ of a powerless submission raised by the standing figure pleas for mercy and peace. Unfortunately no hope will be heard considering on the repeated arms of the man lying dead who have failed for proactively requesting. This figure signifies humanity of the helpless victims and their useless demand to the shooters. Goya exposed the complicit acts of violence between the Christ figure and the soldiers standing a few feet away from another.
The world in this novel has rejected and impacted the pureness in some people on. Scavengers cannibalised and murdered in order to survive whereas The Man and The Boy chose to abstain from harming others. However the victims in the painting have no choice as they are being executed through government sources. Therefore the actions these 3 characters chose revealed their morality and we understand power of nature brings fear to humanity.
Another theme commonly used in these two texts is the power of divinity two characters in each text share the same belief to God. However by comparing those two, only one of them will be remembered the most.
First of all, a tonsured monk is clasped in prayer and is kneeling on the ground. Although he is in desperate prayer we see his shaken faith and divinity. Realizing as if nothing will work to stop this violence, he is appeared to be