Syed Zulqadar
Ms. Amedeo
HWLC
23 February 2015
Injustice of Art
Art is the expression of life and opinions through different forms and channels of communication. Music dance, paint, architecture, and movies speaks to people, stimulating all of our senses and pushing people to keep creating art. These various art forms not only entertain us but evoke thought and emotion, making art a very powerful tool. The Renaissance, a time when art flourished, created a time in Italy where not only was there artistic beauty but due to art science fluroshield. This artistic revolution was one of the main components that made Europe the central power it became, thereby exhibiting the influential nature of art. Art is also a major proponent of wars. Propaganda, used predominantly during war, creates opinions and manipulates the thinking of the masses to follow the same ideals. The Germans during World
War II show the power of propaganda when we see Adolf Hitler utilize this tool to rally national support his ideals. Using false depiction and blame, Hitler convinced the people of Germany that the West was the cause of their demise, and as a result the powerful and deadly Nazi
Germany came into existence. Similarly,
Bartolomé de las Casas shows the deceit and manipulation of opinions used in propaganda in the
The Destruction of the Indies in which he tries to convince King Charles I to stop the punishment of the Native Americans. In his account he lies about the Natives and creates false stories and embellished facts to get his way, revealing that Las Casas’ account of the Indies was unjustified and wrong.
To begin with, one reason the Las Casas’ account,
The Destruction of the Indies, is unjust, is due to his misrepresentation of the Indies. Throughout his account, Las Casas, repeatedly fabricates the Indies as a kind and weak people. In his account Las Casas says, “the indigenous peoples of the region are naturally so gentle, so peaceloving, so humble, and so docile"(Las Casas 7). The aforementioned quote shows him trying to depict the Indies as affectionate and feeble people. This, however, is completely wrong. The Indies, namely the
Aztec, would capture prisoners after war and would sacrifice them. We see this when a history textbook,
World Civilizations: The Global Experience states, "High calling of the Aztec state was to supply this blood largely through its wars of expansion and from prisoners of war, who were destined for sacrifice”(Adas et al 591). This quote shows the brutal nature of the Natives as they had a thirst for blood and would sacrifice humans to quench their thirst, proving that Las
Casas’ interpretation of the feeble Indies was wrong. Such misinterpretation could have caused a miscommunication between King Charles I, leading to more blood being spilled, He could have become lenient on the Indies, which may have resulted in a revolt killing thousands of his own men. Further proving that the misrepresentation of the Indies was wrong as it may have cost
King Charles to make rash decisions which way have led his men, and maybe even Las Casas, death. Another historical occasion where the misrepresentation of information negatively impacted the intended audience is during World War I. German propagandist portrayed the
British as weak soldiers that were incomparable to the Germans. The propaganda undercut the
British power in the eyes of German soldiers, causing many to not prepare properly for war.
Eventually, when soldiers actually faced the British they were surprised by the might of the
British army. The falsified information caused many unprepared soldiers to die and also resent
the German propagandist and government for lying to them. This shows that the misrepresentation of people can greatly skew reality for the individuals that are targeted but such biased information.
Another reason that Las Casas’ account is
