Group 4. “I have observed this in my experience of slavery, -- that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only increased my desire to be free, and set me to thinking of plans to gain my freedom. I have found that, to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason.” -Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, American Slave
1: My group chose the painting entitled “Start with Two, End with Three, 2002” created by William Forrestall. The background starts with a darker shade of mud brown at the bottom and becoming lighter at the top. In the center, …show more content…
First, the flowers were slaves to their containers that keeps them from growing their roots deep into the ground. In the painting they are already broken away from the vases, and have stretched themselves into the ground the table sits on. A slave might wish for freedom so that he could also “grow” his family roots. Secondly, carved into the stones were a few words and letters, scattered around the front. Among the mix were also some shapes, a cube and a circle. This might mean that many well-reasoned people were coming and going from the table. Frederick Douglass plainly states in his text: “…to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one.” The free-thinkers and thoughtful people surrounding the flowers might have encouraged them to break free. Those who helped the slaves escape their plantations would have been free-thinkers too, believing in the basic human right of freedom. Finally, the painting and quote are similar by both the slave’s and flowers’ increased contentment and desires to be free. As the flowers grew closer to the light above them, they would feel healthier and happier and would want to break away from the vase. If they were no longer confined to the small space, they could grow even bigger and wilder. In the slave’s case, if he were free from his owners, he would be allowed to grow and think in new ways too. The calla lilies are also significant. They hold the meaning of
1: My group chose the painting entitled “Start with Two, End with Three, 2002” created by William Forrestall. The background starts with a darker shade of mud brown at the bottom and becoming lighter at the top. In the center, …show more content…
First, the flowers were slaves to their containers that keeps them from growing their roots deep into the ground. In the painting they are already broken away from the vases, and have stretched themselves into the ground the table sits on. A slave might wish for freedom so that he could also “grow” his family roots. Secondly, carved into the stones were a few words and letters, scattered around the front. Among the mix were also some shapes, a cube and a circle. This might mean that many well-reasoned people were coming and going from the table. Frederick Douglass plainly states in his text: “…to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one.” The free-thinkers and thoughtful people surrounding the flowers might have encouraged them to break free. Those who helped the slaves escape their plantations would have been free-thinkers too, believing in the basic human right of freedom. Finally, the painting and quote are similar by both the slave’s and flowers’ increased contentment and desires to be free. As the flowers grew closer to the light above them, they would feel healthier and happier and would want to break away from the vase. If they were no longer confined to the small space, they could grow even bigger and wilder. In the slave’s case, if he were free from his owners, he would be allowed to grow and think in new ways too. The calla lilies are also significant. They hold the meaning of