No More than a Mask - Artist Unkown

For me, this picture is a perfect depiction of the severity of World War I. Once again, the general use of grayscale painting immediately symbolizes the terror and somber aspect of war. Each soldier is almost identical to that of the others, ultimate representing the true absence of humanity and life. Also, the lack of facial features (and evident skull) show the overall outlook on the war - that each soldier would more than likely face death in the eye in some situation or another. The apparent lack of a background definitely adds to the aura emitted in this work of art, with its emotionless, heartless manner. The soldiers themselves are a horrifying site. Their uniforms cover every part of them and do not reveal any skin, hair or sign of a human under the uniform. Their helmets create a sense of uniformity and dark simplicity instead of individuality. However, the most important piece of the uniform was the gas mask. The masks play on the idea of skulls with large, blacked-out eye shields that look alien instead of human. The filter part of the mask reinforces the mutant look of the mask. A man's face is the most human, personal and identifying part of him. The masks completely covered this feature and removed the personality from the human. Humanity became the past because there was no way to tell that a human was behind the suit. It was the suit that was trained to kill and wanted to kill. Soldiers killed other suits, not other people. The human was not seen until the suit was removed from the already dead body to serve the needs of those still living. After, there were no burials for the dead because it would be suicide to leave the trenches. The now exposed soldiers decayed as the living were forced to stare at the bodies.

This picture absolutely represents the dehumanizing aspects of war - everyone worked as one, for a common cause. This picture shows the moral and outlook upon the war pertaining to the soldiers, I mean, I'm sure that they went into battle expecting the worst everyday. It's tough to imagine going through that thought process, and I hope I never have to experience it first hand in my lifetime.