The Importance of Images
Conor is currently in 6th Year and studying ‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy. This dystopian novel is one of his Comparative Texts. He went on to draw comparisons between this text and a given image of a man.
Images are imperative to a story. Without them, there would be no creativity, no panache and no imagination. Simply just no memories available.
To me, I believe that images are the most powerful element of a story. There is no point in reading or writing about something if you can’t visualise what is happening. It is just words on a page, boring and sometimes hard to take in. Images are important to us because we need to keep out minds occupied, the stronger the image involved, the more our minds are drawn in.
I believe that a writer can keep you occupied with painting word images of their stories and if they are successful they will give you a mental experience you will never forget. For instance, if you were walking down the road one day and you happened to come across an old abandoned building, your mind could be drawn to the novel “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy. This is a tale of a father and son in a derelict dystopian world. This comes to mind purely because his use of powerful images. They paint a narrative of the journey they face over a few months. The image could remind you of the passion you may have felt could suddenly return to you from this single view. In my considered opinion, I have found that a single image can further a story with a mental picture for our minds to ingest. The amalgamation of several of these powerful images can create a magical theoretical sequence.
‘A picture paints a thousand words.’ That common adage applies as sometimes we may see an image that is so utterly beautiful and perfect that we cannot put it into words. Like being with the partner of your dreams, someone who makes you permanently happy, in a place so beautiful you are left breathless, or the perfect scene, something you just couldn’t describe it. Now, think of this image, does this not prove the importance of an image? With images we can find an emotion we ourselves do not entirely understand, all in our means to you.
“Words can’t explain what you mean to me, although you’re gone, we’re still a team” -P.Diddy talking about his fallen brother, Christopher Wallace.
In the images shown, we cannot begin to fathom what hardships of joy are being shown. The man is dressed in a suit, he appears to be at a wedding, and he looks upset. This could be his child’s wedding and perhaps his wife did not make it to the day. Or these could be tears of joy, for this wonderful occasion? We cannot know, but what we do know is that this man is extremely emotional and this image captures his emotion in its entirety, whatever it may be. In the second picture, there are two young children smiling, the innocence of youth being shown, not a care in the world. You can see their joy clearly. We cannot tell if these children are living in poverty or vast wealth, they are happy no matter what, and this is the way, in my opinion we should live. All we know is what we see, how these pictures have captured the emotion of the events and what else us an image needed for?
Images can bring wonder and joy to an event, a memory of someone or something passes. Images are powerful for many reasons.
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free”- Frederick Douglass
I take from this quote that once you discover that mystical value of the images you create while reading a story, you will never be alone, never be trapped, recounting the imagination of a child and holding on to that sense of wonder supplied by the images generated from good writing and a good mind. Images remain one of the most important aspects of communication because of the visual, visceral and impact upon the individual.
By Conor (6th Year)