Peace and War

Batoni, Pompeo Girolamo. Peace and War. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.

 In the painting Mars, the Roman God of War, is detained from his destructive course by an angelic beauty. This woman is possibly Pax, the Roman Goddess of Peace. Her pure white tunic which is exposing her bare chest contrasts with Mar’s armor and blood-red cape. Though Mars has both hands preoccupied with a shield and the other with a sword the beautiful woman offers him an olive branch, and gently places her hand on the sword. Her peaceful touch has ceased the Roman God of War even if only for a moment.

The powerful painting illustrates the theme of peace in the midst of war literally with the angelic woman in between Mars’ shield and sword. Her ability to restrain him with just a simple touch intensifies her mesmerizing essence. It is almost as if Mars cannot break away from her eyes and is captivated by her whole being.  The power of peace conquers war and destruction without the use of armor, swords or a shield.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Dir.Mark Herman. Perf. Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon, and David Thewlis. Mirmax Films, 2008.

 

Bruno is the son of a german SS officer, Ralf, who has been given a position at the concentration camp, Auschwitz. The boy and his family move away from their home in Berlin, and now live in a secluded house in the countryside. There is so much space to roam around but Bruno is forbidden to leave the house. He disobeys his parents one day while his mother is busy and his father is away, and goes into the woods to explore. He comes to a fence where he meets a little boy in striped pajamas. At the time Bruno does not realize that the boy, Schmuel, is a Jewish prisoner in the concentration camp, but is just happy to see another boy his age. They meet at the same spot every day, and Bruno brings the hungry little boy food. Bruno’s tutor tells him that the Jews are evil but this does not add up to Bruno because Schmuel is his friend. His sister, Gretel, on the other hand is a strong advocate of the Nazi movement, and has become infatuated with SS Lieutenant Kurt Kotler. Schmuel comes to Bruno’s house one day to clean the crystal, but this trip is short lived after Schmuel gets in accused of stealing a cookie. Bruno does not know how to handle the situation, and denies knowing Schmuel when they boy tries to implore he is innocent. Ralf feels as if the countryside home is not a place where is family should be after Gretel is told by Kortel that the Germans are burning the Jews. For the last time, Bruno goes to meet with Schmuel at the fence feeling bad for getting him into trouble he agrees to help the boy find his father who has gone missing. Bruno digs a hole and climbs under the fence, when he gets on the concentration camp grounds he changes into the same striped pajamas as his friend. As the two are walking around the camp they get swept into a crowd who are on their way to the gas chambers. The two hold hands as the gas consumes the chamber they are in. After Bruno’s parents realize what has happened they are both in agonizing sorrow.

Though Bruno was taught to hate the Jews his companionship with Schmuel was impenetrable. Perhaps this is because he was so young and naïve, but either way he loved his friend and knew in his heart Scmhuel wasn’t evil. The concentration camp was a brutal and sinister place, but Schmuel still enjoyed his german companion’s company and their place of peace by the fence. Death and war was everywhere around them but not understanding it all they were able to become bestfriends. The two loved and trusted one another and died together in the gas chambers.

Joyeux Noel

Joyeux Noel. Dir. Christian Carion. Perf. Benno Fürmann, Guillaume Canet, and Daniel Brühl. Sony      Picture Classics, 2005.

The film depicts the trench warfare of World War I during Christmastime of 1914. The French and Scots have just battled against the Germans, and both lost many men. The French and Scottish alliance is led by Lieutenant Audebert and Lieutenant Gordon, and the Germans are led by Lieutant Hortsmayer. Their infantries are comprised of common men who are barbers, butchers, and other tradesmen. Among them  is Sprink, a German opera tenor, who has been called to duty for his country, but in turn has had to leave the love of his life Anna. In a courageous act of love she arranges for Sprink and herself to perform for the Crown Prince Wilhelm on Christmas Eve. After performing for the Crown Prince, Sprink is moved by Anna’s tenderness and love which he knew so well before the war. He decides he will go back to the trenches and sing for his fellow men. Anna refuses to let him go without her so they go back together. Sprink sings “Holy Night” to his comrades and the Scots join in playing the bagpipes in their trenches on the other side of the battlefield. While singing “Come all Ye Faithful” Sprink emerges from the trenches with a Christmas tree as sign of peace. The Lieutenants decide to have a ceasefire for Christmas day to respect the birthday of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. The soldiers exchange gifts and talk about their families, and then have church service. Christmas morning, the Lieutenants decide to let their men bury the dead, and the soldiers play a game of soccer and converse. Lieutenant Hortsmayer learns that the Germans are planning to bomb the French and Scots trenches. Lieutenants Audebert and Gordon gather their men and hide them in Lieutenant Hortsmayer’s trenches. The day of peace is over and it is back to the reality of war. Sprink and Anna turn themselves in as prisoners of war to Lieutenant Audebert. When the superiors of the French, Scots, and Germans hear of the treason of that day they are furious. The French major general reprimands Lieutenant Audebert, the Scottish bishop rebukes the Scottish priest, and the Crown Prince Wilhelm scolds the German soldiers before their train heads to Prussia.  As the train starts to roll away the Germans hum a Scottish folk song.

The soldiers would forever be changed by the day of peace they had with their enemies on Christmas day of 1914. They learned that their enemies who they dutifully fought were very similar to themselves. Sprink was also reconnected to the world he knew before the war with the help of Anna’s love, and in turn was moved to share it with his fellow soldiers through music. Music helped unite the enemies and bring peace between them literally in the middle of the battlefield. This surreal experience showed the power of peace can unify enemies in the midst of war and soften men’s hearts.

Red and Black

Lopez -Murcia, Tania Alexandra. “ABC café/Black and red- Les Miserables 25^th Anniversary LYRICS”. Youtube.Web. 25 Jun. 2012.

The song “Red and Black” is a song from the musical production Les Miserables. The musical is based on the lives of the French people before and at the beginning of the French Revolution. In this particular scene, Marius joins his fellow French rebels at a meeting but arrives late. He shows up awe-struck by encountering Cozette, the goddaughter of Jean Valjean, for the first time. While the French rebels only have war and revolution on their minds Marius can only think of Cozette.

Marius has fallen in love at first sight with the beautiful Cozette. It unfortunately is a very inopportune time for this to occur since the French are on the brink of revolution. Yet this concerns Marius very little at the moment. The colors red and black depict the intensity of how Marius and the rebels feel. The French rebels described red as “the blood of angry men” and black as “dark of ages past”. In contrast red represents Marius intense desire for Cozette and black represents “his world if she’snot there”. Marius’ heart burns with passionate love for Cozette at the climatic period in France that soon leads into the most horrific war the country has ever experienced.

Gone with the Wind

Mitchell, Margaret. Gone with the Wind. Macmillan: New York,1936.

Scarlett O’Hara is tenacious southern belle whose family owns the Tara Plantation. She is sixteen when the war begins, and is deeply in love with a man she cannot have Ashley Wilkes. Scarlett is unable to be with Ashley because he is soon to be married to his cousin, Melanie Hamilton.  Scarlett meets the bronze, unscrupulous Rhett Butler who admires her willful spirit though she is disgusted with him. Out of spite Scarlett marries Melanie’s cousin, Charles Hamilton whom impregnates her immediately after being wedded. Charles dies soon after the Civil War begins and young, pregnant Scarlett moves to Atlanta to live with Aunt Pittypat and Melanie, her sister-in-law who she despises. As the war progresses the South is experiencing more and more loses, but Scarlett does what she can to help the Confederate cause. Meanwhile Scarlett is still secretly in love with Ashley, and she and Rhett continue their peculiar love-hate relationship. They both have similar viewpoints but Rhett is more vocal on his views compared to Scarlett, but this is only natural since she still is a southern woman. After Atlanta is overran by the Union army with the help of Rhett they escape from Atlanta and head back to Tara, but Rhett leaves them during the middle of the trip to go fight for the Southern cause. Scarlett takes the reigns and safely arrives to Tara with her servant, Prissy, Wade, her first born, and Melanie’s new baby boy, Beau. The plantation has changed drastically and Scarlett must work hard in the fields. She is adapting to the new life after the war, but needs help to keep Tara. Due to the heavy taxes she calls on Rhett for help once again, but finds out he is in jail. Shortly after finding this out she marries Frank Kennedy in order to help pay the taxes on the plantation, and the couple soon welcome their child, Ella Lorena. Scarlett also buys a sawmill in Atlanta with the help of Rhett whom always seems to come around when she needs him most. Frank dies after being shot in attempt of getting revenge on men who attacked Scarlett. In an emotional fret Scarlett agrees to marry Rhett which she later regrets horrifically. Though he is the one who understands her the most, the relationship is confusing for her. The two have a baby girl, Eugenie Victoria, who Rhett spoils immensely. Scarlett feelings for Ashley are stirred up again when she has to detain him from his surprise party, as he compliments her her mind reminisces of when she was young. The two are caught embracing, and when Rhett hears of this he is furiously jealous. In a combination of anger and passion the two make love, but the morning after Rhett leaves town with Eugenie. They are gone for a long while and Scarlett misses him and yearns for him. Scarlett is three months pregnant when they come back, but has a miscarriage after falling down the stairs in an altercation with Rhett. Rhett is deeply depressed after this and clings to his daughter even more so. In a tragic horse accident Eugenie dies, and in deep despair Rhett leaves leaving Scarlett once more to fend for herself. As always Scarlett survives through the trying times, but yearns for Rhett’s love.

Rhett and Scarlett are an unlikely pair, but because they are both survivors they are attracted to each other. The struggles of the war have taken Scarlett through many changes just as the South itself did. She goes from a spoiled southern belle to a hard working woman, but her willful spirit never dies. The love she and Rhett shared was atypical but they understood each other on a different level than most. The war and post-war trials they faced could not break their unique bond and the passionate love they had could not be extinguished.