Armenian Genocide

Paper Summary:

In this paper, the author examines the painting "Armenian Genocide" that depicts the massacre of a group of Armenian women and children by a group of what is assumed to be Turkish soldiers. The writer discusses the assumption that apparent wealth and moral values go together. By analyzing the picture and the various scenes depicted in it, he contends that this assumption is false and that having great wealth does not, in itself, guarantee high moral values.

From the Paper:

"All of the swords have blood on them. These people were being murdered in brutal ways. We might even suspect from this picture that there was very little resistance from the women, and they were still murdered. Toward the left center of the picture it looks like there is a head of hair, probably a dead Armenian woman. Toward the very right there is another body lying on the ground with a man jabbing a sword downward at it with enormous force. The person on the ground looks like they might be tied up. There is some kind of rope around their ankles and wrists. If this is the case, they are completely defenseless. It's hard to imagine these Turkish men attacking a group much weaker than them and not even armed.
"It seems like the women in this picture have very little. They don't seem very materialistic compared to the men attacking them. The men are wearing very elaborate clothing and hats. Some of the men here even have more than one weapon. The women all look surprised and terrified. They seem distressed, almost as though they don't understand why this is all happening. We know that the reason for the dispute was a religion difference, but there is an evident distinction between the social classes as well. The Turkish were Muslim and the Armenians were Christian. It seems, however, in today's society that the Armenians would be called the "working class" from the interpretation of this picture. The Armenians look poor in this picture, but are far more moral than the Turkish."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Armenian Genocide." Wikipedia. 23 Nov 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide>.
• Mohandas, Gandhi. Reading the World Ideas that Matter. 1st. New York: W WNorton & Company, 2007.
• http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://armenianhouse.org/bliss/turkey/306-sassun.jpg&imgrefurl=http://armenianhouse.org/bliss/turkey/17-protestant-missions.html&h=365&w=530&sz=71&hl=en&start=18&um=1&tbnid=zuqAm6e7-GwQpM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=132&prev=/images%3Fq%3Darmenianhouse.org%2Billustration%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den

More papers on Armenian Genocide:

• Analytical Essay # 124118 : "The Armenian Genocide"
• Research Paper # 95840 : "Armenian Genocide"
• Research Paper # 113091 : "Causes of Armenian Genocide"

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