Joe Hanson
Mr. Mishou
English IV
12 Feb 2014
Avarice in Everyman
Avarice can blind even the most noble of people from what is really important in life and what will truly be with one throughout eternity. What the person has done rather what the person has is what the individual in question will be judged on when Death knocks at the door. The picture to the right perfectly shows how “deadly” the sin of avarice can be. This fact is also shown in the story Everyman, in which the character Everyman believes that his worldly possessions will accompany him through death. Death creeps up on all. In this picture, it appears that Death’s minions are watching over the woman who is surrounded by her worldly possessions and goods. The artist of this picture chose to put all these items down by her feet however. This is to symbolize the importance of these objects as far as a moral standpoint goes. In Everyman, his objects had, “always been there for him.” However when Death came, Everyman’s possessions forsake him. All that would accompany him to Death were Good Deeds and Knowledge. In this picture one sees that no matter how many possessions one may have, they will never be there once the walk with Death is nigh. The only companions one will have on the fateful end of the journey are knowledge and good deeds. What the artist of the picture as well as the author of Everyman are stating is that during life, people are not judged based on possessions, but rather their morals and behaviors.
Cited Artwork:
Ligozzi, Jacapo. Avarice. 1590. Pen and brown ink with brown wash heightened with gold on laid paper. National Gallery of Art. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
I really like your theme! Greed can ruin a person if it gets the best of them. You can't take your possessions with you when you die and if people spend their whole lives collecting material things they will have nothing good to be proud of for their lives. Everyman only cared about material things and the woman in the picture was the same way. Good job Joe!!
ReplyDeleteThis post was made by Amy.
DeleteOur themes are very similar, great minds think alike! You are absolutely right when you say that avarice can blind even the most noble people. Everyman wasted his entire life collecting material possessions and in the end they did nothing for them. You did a really good job at putting this into words for your theme. I think that coming up with the theme and putting it into words was the most difficult part of this project. You also did an excellent job at locating a picture, it represents your theme almost perfectly. The women in the picture is surrounded by material objects, but death is also lurking all around her. Just as death is waiting to claim all of us. So we need to make a positive difference while we are on this earth instead of trying to accumulate more material objects for ourselves. I completely agree with your theme and hope to live by my good deeds and knowledge. Overall, you did a terrific job at not only writing your theme, but also connecting it to your picture!
ReplyDeletePaige Whalen!