Great White Wave example essay topic

The Great Wave: Hokusai In the painter's eyes, he sees a motionless picture that will never continue on to become reality. Without the poem, the picture, an innocent bystander has no clue as to what is going to happen. This person is portraying what is inevitable of the three boats. The doomed fate is this great white wave is going to crush, beat and swallow these men in an instant.

No time to react, no time to think, and no time to even say a prayer. The picture presents a multi faceted appearance. The Great Wave strongly suggests a tsunami (tidal wave) that is going to over come the men with the white faces. On the same token, the picture suggests a snowy mountain with a cliff that hangs over the edge. The snow and ice that hangs over the edge gives a appearance of hands trying to grasp the boats with the men with the white faces. It's a narrow interpretation that shows a partial appearance of a jaw of an animal looking for its prey.

Another interpretation of the poem says that the wave is like a mountain that sits still in the sky aimlessly. Ararat is in all the men's eyes. It is far, far away looking up at this enormous white wave. The viciousness caused by the enormity of the wave can arouse fear without even viewing the people up close. The thought of this wave so close to shore yet still a distance away, will make your hair stand up.

One could speculate that fearless men who have seen much danger could become deathly afraid. On the other hand some would look at that wave and take it as a challenge. The conclusion could be drawn that, this wave is something that we as men could go through and come sailing out into the serene sea on the other side. Furthermore the three boats of men are each at different parts of the wave.

Some of the men are feeling strong although they just have seen a monstrous wave. Some men in the middle boat could possibly have sentiment that they are going to die. In the last boat, the sailors all see what the other two sea vessels have just gone through. There is no means of escape. Who will make it and who will not is a mystery. The poem suggests that all the men are safe.

In reality, the picture suggests a frozen scene. One could only speculate what actually would happen in the real world. The snow covering the wave resembles snow covering a mountain. The prophet Daniel interpreted what our author of the poem "The Great Wave" saw in the picture. The writing in the air, which is an omen of potential disaster, is like the writing on the wall of Babylon. The Japanese proverb is very visible.

Our interpretation of the proverb is of such high disaster like in the English vernacular "I told you so" in the novel Moby Dick. The bystander, it seems senses only disaster will follow at the tick of the clock when he looks at the picture. Looking at the picture as if it was real life and imagining the range of emotions that ran through the bystander's mind. This stimulates the kind of emotion that makes a grown man cry because he saw an impending catastrophe. The fear-evoking picture will make a sailor vomit if presented in the wrong time and cause untold nightmares in some others.

To contrast the poem and the picture one would see that the writer was not concerned about foreboding danger. The author sees the picture as a motionless, thought provoking, literary device. To most observers this picture brings sudden feelings of death to mind and is not easily shaken. The men with the white faces suggest fright. The snow on mount Fuji and the foam on the waves suggest a difference in temperature. Also, the difference in the color is that the sky is usually a blue color and not a brownish color.

The picture infers there is real danger to these strangers that are sailing along to Mount Ararat. These kinds of wave are caused by strong wind and the painter tries to show words in its place. The words in the sky imply that there is danger for these poor sailors at this instant. The realty of Mount Fuji doesn't apply to these sailors because in realty the wave will fall on them even though there is writing in the sky to warn of impending disaster. The sea is not as calm as the snow. The wave doesn't lean on the sky as it moves on and another one will come and finish what the last did not.

Anger, the wave along with the winds bends under pressure to bring coherence to the picture.