Research Questions
How do nearly fatal experiences contribute to survivors’ guilt?
What is throughout history soldiers have suffered from moral injury, more specifically survivor's guilt. Oxford describes survivors guilt as, “a condition of persistent mental and emotional stress experienced by someone who has survived an incident in which others died.” Although often mistook as PTSD survivors guilt has some minor differences, mainly that PTSD is rooted in fear while survivors guilt is rooted in shame. According to Healing a Wounded Sense of Morality, the main causes of survivors' guilt are when they or someone close to them violates their moral code and losing trust in leaders who only cared about glory and not protecting his or her troops. In the poem Dulce et Decorum est the author describes having nightmares of not being able to save a dying soldier. It clearly has a connotation of regret and self-shame which is the main symptom of survivor's guilt.
How is the subject evidenced in the art piece Gassed?
What is the subject of survivor’s guilt is evidenced in the art piece Gassed by showing the main soldiers in the picture having survivors guilt because they are receiving medical attention while others did not. The main soldiers in the painting are standing in a line and being led by medics while the rest of the soldiers or on the floor helpless. You can infer that the soldiers being tended to by medics are content because they know they can trust the medics and they know they are in good hands. However you can also infer that they feel bad or guilty that they are receiving help while the rest of the soldiers are on the floor dying while waiting for medical attention.
How is the significant subject being portrayed on the freeze frames that represent the art piece Gassed?
The significant subject, survivor’s guilt is being portrayed in the freeze frames that represent the art piece Gassed by showing what the painter was thinking while painting. The painter, portrayed by Nyla, showed sadness and guilt on her face when remembering her friends that died in the war.
How did survivors' guilt affect an artist's approach to art?
What is survivors' guilt affects an artist’s approach to art by making them feel a variety of emotions that then are expressed in various forms of art.. Some artists may have experienced survivors guilt and that might have made them feel lonely, we know this because artists have expressed their feelings in poems. In the article How World War I Changed Literature, by Amanda Onion, mentions the art style written during war time was mostly romantic sonnets of war and death. This form of poetic style relates to survivors guilt because they sometimes will ponder why the people around them are dying , like in Dulce Et Decorum Est when a soldier “plunges at [him], guttering, choking, drowning (Wilfred Owen 1)”. During the later stages of war it turned from romantic sonnets into warnings about the war. We can see this form of poetry might have arisen because the soldiers did not want others to fall in the same trap as they did. This form of art was present in multiple poems such as All quiet on the Western Front and The Soldier. This relates to the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est because the author, Wilfred Owen, talks about how propaganda lies and how it deceives you into going to war. Some of the symbols of propaganda part of the lies are national personification, some include Uncle Sam, John Bull, and Columbia. As seen from these evidence and inferences it is proven that the feeling the artisans experience contributed to their art styles and how they approach it.
What is the overall significant subject that your group identified in our sources? Why did your group choose to focus on this subject?
Our group decided to focus on survivors’ guilt because survivors’ guilt is a serious mental condition. In our opinion, we chose survivors’ guilt over the other significant subjects because survivors’ guilt is one of the most traumatic experiences anyone can endure. Our group has decided that guilt and sorrow is incredibly traumatic and can greatly affect a persons life.
Explain how the title connects the Freeze Frames to the linking subject and each other in a clear way.
Our title, which is the pain worse than death, and that pain is called guilt. This pain relates to the freeze frames because our freeze frames are about survivors’ guilt and the worse type of guilt is probably surviving a life-threatening situation while others did not.
Did expressing survivors guilt through art improve their mental state?
What is expressing survivors guilt or other traumatic experiences through art does improve their mental state. The NEA Military Healing Arts Network describes how creating pieces in art therapy is scientifically proven to foster connections in the brain which help support healthier brain function improving feelings such as grief, loss, survivors guilt, and shame. Art therapists also help the percipient to interpret their art in order to find the root of their stress and anxiety. This piece of text improves my knowledge of survivor’s guilt by describing how people use art in order to be able to cope with the traumatic experience. By creating art, people are not only improving brain function by accessing their creative side, but art therapists are able to view their work and help to understand where the stress is coming from. Survivors' guilt is shown in the painting“Gassed” by the soldiers that were tended by the medics could have felt guilty because they are were helped while other soldiers were left to die. This painting could have been a result of art therapy and it helped them cope with survivors’ guilt.
How is the subject evidenced in the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est?
Survivors’ Guilt occurs in the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est. The author describes having nightmares of not being able to save a dying soldier. It clearly has a connotation of regret and self-shame which is the main symptom of survivor's guilt.
How is the significant subject being portrayed in each freeze frame that represent the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est?
The significant subject of our freeze frames is survivor's guilt, it is portrayed to the death of the comrade in the dream. Nyla was a previous soldier and she dreamed of the death of her fellow soldier, which is I. This dream shows how much guilt she has and how the death of her friend was repeated in her dreams