Medusa And Discourse On The Foundations Of Inequality Among Men

Differing Interpretations on The Effects of Civilization according to Raft of the Medusa and Discourse on the Origin and the Foundations of Inequality Among Men
Raft of the Medusa and Discourse on the Origin and the Foundations of Inequality Among Men both address the effects of civilization through their depictions of humanity battling itself over the rules and hierarchies that civilization has created. Raft of the Medusa, painted by French artist Théodore Géricault, depicts several men clambering over each other in a vigorous attempt to wave down a speck in the distance. In the painting, there are eighteen individuals interweaved with one another on top of a hastily constructed raft. Five of them are dead. It is in this mass of tangled body …show more content…

This ruthlessness is characterized by the positioning and actions of the individuals on the raft. Looking at the construction of the raft, it is clearly assembled in a manner that would allow for all the individuals to have their own space . There is no need for anyone to even be touching anyone else. Despite this, the population of the raft are pulling and yanking; pushing and shoving to get to the top of the dogpile. A dogpile whose whole purpose is to wave down a speck in the distance that may or may not be another vessel. The possibility of escape, the possibility of freedom, the possibility of a better life, is dangled in front of these common citizens, as a result they lose all sense of logic and reason and literally trample those in front of them to gain what they see as an advantage. There is no advantage in being the person responsible for waving down the potential rescue ship, yet the hands of the men in the dogpile aren’t supporting those above them, they’re grasping at them, attempting to pull them down . The possibility exists that an advantage may be present, thus it acceptable to do anything within an individual’s power to attain it. Civilization, as represented in this instance, has conditioned individuals to think only about what benefits themselves, regardless of who it hurts in the