Self-portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States by Frida Kahlo

by | Feb 26, 2022 | Homeland Security

View the Visual Artwork: Self-portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States by Frida Kahlo
02 https://www.biography.com/artist/frida-kahlo
03 http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/worksofart/borderline.html

  1. First be sure you have reviewed all materials in this learning module and that you have read Chapter 5 in your textbook.
  2. You may wish to open the larger version of Kahlo’s painting to more carefully examine it as you compose your evaluation.
  3. You should also refer back to the Module 5 Online Exploration resources and USE AND CITE these research sources in your essay. You may use additional resources too. In any case, be sure to cite your sources.
  4. Submit your essay as a Word Document (.doc or .docx) or as a Rich Text Format (.rtf) file.
  5. Essay Instructions: Now that you’ve carefully examined the work of visual art and completed your research, compose an essay of at least 400 words (total) where you compose an essay of FIVE fully developed paragraphs (one paragraph for each of the following questions):

Paragraph 1: Describe the painting: What is your general impression of the painting? What parts of the painting represent Mexico? What parts of the painting represent the United States? How do these two depictions differ?
Paragraph 2: Interpret the painting: Kahlo once said, “I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.” What parts of herself does Kahlo seem to be exploring in this self-portrait? What might she be saying about herself in relation to the two countries in the painting? Cite examples to support your interpretation.
Paragraph 3: Identify the artistic characteristics and styles in the painting: What elements of surrealism do you see in the painting? What elements of indigenous art do you see? How do the two work together? Cite specific examples.
Paragraph 4: Interpret the artist’s motivation: This is the most speculative. Frida Kahlo was first exhibited as Mrs. Diego Rivera. How do you think being married to a famous man affected Kahlo’s life and her work? Is there anything in the painting that has relevance to her position as a famous artist’s wife?
Paragraph 5: This painting is considered a “valuable and important” piece of art. Do you agree? If so, explain which features of the painting makes you agree. If not, explain why you disagree by citing relevant features of the painting.

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

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