Harrison S.
I chose the section from Caliban Upon Setebos,
“'Thinketh, such shows nor right nor wrong in Him,
Nor kind, nor cruel: He is strong and Lord.
'Am strong myself compared to yonder crabs
That march now from the mountain to the sea;
'Let twenty pass, and stone the twenty-first,
Loving not, hating not, just choosing so.
'Say, the first straggler that boasts purple spots
Shall join the file, one pincer twisted off;'
Say, this bruised fellow shall receive a worm,
And two worms he whose nippers end in red;
As it likes me each time, I do: so He.”
Analysis
The passage really stuck with me upon reading it and it was the first thing that came to mind when I read the project. I wanted to adapt the piece, but I found the violent nature of it separated from my life, and I would imagine the life of many other students. For this reason I used the pencils. Further Caliban is pondering the nature of his God, I don’t relate to Setebos but as far as the power relationship of people in relation to God I think about Romans 13:1, which is pictured. I felt that through attempting to recreate the mood of the passage in the picture I found some understanding of Caliban’s reasoning. I felt that I was able to capture the contemplation in the moment, yet because of the replacement the violence of the moment is lost, because it is lost the idea of the power of a supreme being who has complete control is lost. Because of the more modern adaption I felt it was easier to relate to Caliban and that he felt more like a real person I could meet, or even be. Further, because what Caliban was saying was a metaphor for his exercise of power, I think the translation of it into pencils emphases it conceptually.