When visited the Ball State Art Museum, there is one painting that stuck in my memory. From the moment I first glanced at this gruesome, detailed piece of art I quickly made a connection to Ishmael Beah's "a long way gone". This artwork was a little painful to look at, and imagine such a horrifying scene. It upsets me to see how this painting shows a pale, young man being roasted alive, and looking for an answer from the heavens above. The other young men in this painting that were forcing him down, seemed as if it didn't bother them to watch another human being die. This painting was know as "The Martyrdom Of Saint Lawrence". Being a boy solider, Beah would witness deaths right before his very eyes. Murders and deaths to him became a common everyday thing. No child should be in war and kill other innocent people. I could never began to imagine how I would feel, to watch this happen day after day, it would leave you traumatized. What a difficult life, to be constantly reminded of a unimaginable nightmare you were once living in.
I'm so pleased you saw connections to Beah's story too! I appreciate that you went over to the museum on your own. When we were there with the class, our guide helped us consider what was going on in the minds of the characters such as the men putting wood under the grate. It seems like they were carrying out orders, perhaps in fear of their own lives. That also reminded me of what Ishmael wrote about.
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