Time to Say Goodbye: John F. Kennedy, Jr. Salutes

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

John F. Kennedy, Jr. Salutes

Stan Stearns’ photograph of John F. Kennedy, Jr. saluting his murdered father’s casket as it passes stirs deep emotion in the soul of the viewer. At the young age of four, John Jr. (as his father affectionately called him) had to grieve in the public eye. Already a sad day for America, the image of the small boy saluting his father’s casket as it passed only further cemented November 25, 1963 as one of the most tragic days in our history (1963: John F Kennedy is Laid to Rest).

In a different but similarly touching goodbye, JFK, Jr.’s salute is the opposite of Kate Kollwitz’s “Woman with Dead Child”. The younger generation is saying goodbye to the older generation. Some would argue that the loss of younger life tends to be a sadder occasion than the loss of an older person. However, by looking at this picture, it is hard to deem one loss sadder than the other. JFK, Jr. lost his hero and will never have the opportunity to bond with or know his father. One cannot deny how unfortunate that prospect is. JFK was also a young father whose death was unexpected, and it did not help that he was assassinated in the middle of the street. Whether the child is saying goodbye to his father or the mother is saying goodbye to her child, both situations are tragic and equally saddening. Although this is a very tragic goodbye, it is important because JFK, Jr. was able to embark on the road to closure. Closure is necessary for anyone saying goodbye to a loved one because closure allows the individual to move on and live a full life.

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Introduction

All the pieces of art in this gallery have to do with one particular theme: saying goodbye. The subjects in each picture are performing an action that symbolically represents saying goodbye to something. In “Woman with Dead Child,” the devastated woman is grabbing on to her child for the very last time. One can sympathize and feel the sadness that the woman is experiencing as she comes to terms with the fact that her child is gone. In “The Scream,” the man is saying goodbye to his sanity by screaming in the middle of a street as “normal” people walk by. In the somber photograph “John F. Kennedy, Jr. Salutes,” the little boy is saluting his father, his hero, and the President of the Untied States. In “Man Hammers Berlin Wall,” he is moving from a life of oppression to a life of new possibilities. The man is literally breaking down the wall that prevented his life of freedom. In “V-J Day in Times Square,” a navy sailor and nurse passionately embrace in a kiss to celebrate that World War II is over. All of these pictures are different types of art that depict goodbyes of different sorts. Some are happy, some are sad, but nonetheless someone is saying goodbye to something. As one says goodbye to something, one is also saying hello another thing. Some people are scared to say goodbye to certain things or people because in essence the individual has to come to terms with new uncomfortable surroundings or circumstances. On the other hand, others are saying goodbye to something that they deeply dislike and are eager to say hello to a new life. Regardless if the goodbye is happy or sad, the occasion is momentous in one’s life journey, and therefore the act of saying goodbye is worthy of documenting.

Links to Other Blogs

The blog “Women in Mourning” by Belinda Lei evokes sympathy and sadness in the viewer by portraying mourning women in helpless and tragic situations. In each piece of artwork, a woman is experiencing a painful moment in her life whether it be losing a loved one, her civil rights, or being forced to leave a sacred place. While trying to cope and find closure, some of these women are also saying their final goodbyes to someone or something that is important to them. Continuing with the theme of losing a child, Kathe Kollwitz’s “Need or Misery” strikes the same emotions as “Woman with Dead Child” as a grieving mother and a dead child. And although Eve is not mourning a dead child in Masaccio’s “Expulsion from the Garden of Eden,” Adam and her are passionately saying goodbye to their former paradise that they will never see again. Saying goodbye is a very common subject in artwork, therefore it is not surprising that other artists have focused on paintings masterpieces involving this topic.

The blog “Human Emotion” by Daniel Hernandez explains how human emotions are connected to the five human senses: touch, sight, smell, taste, and sound. Each one of the five paintings depicts a human sense. In “Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo, God’s finger touches Adam’s hand. The man and woman in “V-J Day in Times Square” strongly embrace to say goodbye to World War II. The sense of touch is important because it allows the man and woman display their excitement. In Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” Jesus is saying goodbye to his Disciples with this final dinner. He instructs the Disciples to remember him by eating bread and drinking wine, which represented his body and blood. In order to say goodbye, one must experience human emotion, which cannot be done without the five senses.