Curiosity: is it sinful? This question has been examined by painters such as Thomas Cole and philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who came to believe that curiosity, dating back to the Garden of Eden, leads to the destruction of both individuals and entire empires. In the Garden of Eden, the first humans, Adam and Eve, were placed on Earth by God to be the beginning of mankind. While the Tree of Life nurtured the two, Eve remained curious about the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. This curiosity eventually led Eve to disobey God and eat the fruit. For her transgression, God exiled Eve from the Garden of Eden with this mistake being the eventual cause of her death. Before Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, humans were immortal,
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The cause of the ruinous portrayal on the other half stems from the ending to the story. Because Eve disobeyed orders and ate the fruit, she suffered the immediate consequences, and her and Adam had to live the rest of their lives in ultimate desolation. But the major consequences came later: the human race must suffer death and abuse. Due to Eve’s curiosity, she was lead to a terrifying scene as a repercussion, changing the nature of humanity. In the painting, the two figures who represent Adam and Eve walk away from the portal containing God’s light. This light took them from the pristine oasis they were in, to a great abyss. Demolished trees surround them, looking windblown and missing a considerable amount of leaves. Above, there is a murky sky, full of clouds and a volcano erupting in the distance, symbolizing God’s anger with Eve and her actions. There is a wolf standing in Adam and Eve’s path, displaying the wilderness this terrible place. The wolf symbolizes two things. First, a “lack of trust in someone or in yourself”, this being that God can no longer trust Eve for what she has done (Harris). It also references a “deep connection with instincts”, being ironic since Eve’s instinct was to eat the fruit which lead to a detrimental end (Harris). This half of the painting is full of dark …show more content…
To be curious meant to have a desire for knowledge, achieved through the arts and the sciences, which, according to Rousseau, lead to the destruction and fall of empires. Rousseau believed that the more society advanced in the arts and the sciences, the further society got away from human nature. This distance from human nature is the cause of deterioration and ultimate destruction of an empire because society deprives a person of individuality, according to Rousseau. Empires that build upon the foundation of knowledge are lead away from the natural order of life, leading to their downfall (Rousseau, 1-25). However, in the case of empires such as the Ancient Egyptians, much had been advanced in the sciences. For instance, cities such as Memphis and Abydos had complex pipe systems that brought water to homes before the empire was even consolidated (“Tracking Down the Roots”, 1). Rousseau’s beliefs relate back to the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, trying to find a metaphor between empire’s rises and falls and Adam and Eve’s fall from paradise due to the thirst for knowledge that clearly doesn’t exist. Empires are rarely, if ever, Edenic in their beginnings and they often possess a thirst for knowledge before their expansions and consolidations even begin. The destruction on the left exhibits the characteristics of a fallen empire. The
The cause of the ruinous portrayal on the other half stems from the ending to the story. Because Eve disobeyed orders and ate the fruit, she suffered the immediate consequences, and her and Adam had to live the rest of their lives in ultimate desolation. But the major consequences came later: the human race must suffer death and abuse. Due to Eve’s curiosity, she was lead to a terrifying scene as a repercussion, changing the nature of humanity. In the painting, the two figures who represent Adam and Eve walk away from the portal containing God’s light. This light took them from the pristine oasis they were in, to a great abyss. Demolished trees surround them, looking windblown and missing a considerable amount of leaves. Above, there is a murky sky, full of clouds and a volcano erupting in the distance, symbolizing God’s anger with Eve and her actions. There is a wolf standing in Adam and Eve’s path, displaying the wilderness this terrible place. The wolf symbolizes two things. First, a “lack of trust in someone or in yourself”, this being that God can no longer trust Eve for what she has done (Harris). It also references a “deep connection with instincts”, being ironic since Eve’s instinct was to eat the fruit which lead to a detrimental end (Harris). This half of the painting is full of dark …show more content…
To be curious meant to have a desire for knowledge, achieved through the arts and the sciences, which, according to Rousseau, lead to the destruction and fall of empires. Rousseau believed that the more society advanced in the arts and the sciences, the further society got away from human nature. This distance from human nature is the cause of deterioration and ultimate destruction of an empire because society deprives a person of individuality, according to Rousseau. Empires that build upon the foundation of knowledge are lead away from the natural order of life, leading to their downfall (Rousseau, 1-25). However, in the case of empires such as the Ancient Egyptians, much had been advanced in the sciences. For instance, cities such as Memphis and Abydos had complex pipe systems that brought water to homes before the empire was even consolidated (“Tracking Down the Roots”, 1). Rousseau’s beliefs relate back to the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, trying to find a metaphor between empire’s rises and falls and Adam and Eve’s fall from paradise due to the thirst for knowledge that clearly doesn’t exist. Empires are rarely, if ever, Edenic in their beginnings and they often possess a thirst for knowledge before their expansions and consolidations even begin. The destruction on the left exhibits the characteristics of a fallen empire. The