Masques à gaz (Gas Masks)-Henri de Groux

I felt it fitting to blog on the gassing because not only was it used in WWI but we see it again in WWII with the idea of gas chambers to kill people in the Holocaust. This idea gives us a small taste of the real impact of WWI on the world, because as we know, WWI left a legacy that changed the world. Also, the "ending" of WWI was built only on quicksand.
Every time we talk about being killed by gas or I see a picture like this, I get chills thinking about how it must feel to die this way. Not only did it cut off your oxygen supply, but often times it burned your skin, eyes, and/or esophagus or trachea. I couldn't imagine even the thought of death let alone a painful, suffering as you're dying. Though most of us just brush of thinking of dying in such a manor, the harsh reality is that it happened. Not just to one person, but probably millions over the course of the two world wars. To know that these painful, gruesome devices can survive between two world wars leaves me worried because it could very well be used today if another Holocaust were to break out. The sad truth about being gassed is that none of us could see it coming either since it can go unseen and sometimes undetected through smell either. At the time it may have seemed like these new scientific and technological advances were a good idea but they have left massive scars on the Earth's population.
When I stumbled upon this picture I also found a summary/criticism that came with it and it pointed out that the people in this painting were portrayed as animalistic. I find it interesting that the people would be viewed this way because in society we see killing each other as barbaric, but in the animal world, killing another of their own kind is merely survival of the fittest. This is also the main idea of Social Darwinism where through survival of the fittest, only the best "breed" will be left standing. With this I thought of Adolph Hitler and his idea of erasing the earth of those that were not perfect to leave only the best "breed" of people standing. This is a "good call" by Henri de Groux (the artist of this painting) in my eyes because if he had intended for the people in this picture to be animalistic, then he was very successful at seeing into the true animal nature of humans, thus leaving us with something to ponder with about ourselves....

(http://www.art-ww1.com/gb/texte/020text.html)