Indifference Toward Suffering In Literature

A.H. Auden’s “Musee de Beaux Arts”, Brueghel’s “Landscape of the Fall of Icarus” and Anne Sexton’s “To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Triumph” all have a thematic connection that displays indifference towards suffering. These three works of literature use the myth of Icarus to illustrate the idea that suffering exists but individuals do not focus on it and how a person attempting to reach their dreams should not either. Auden’s “Musee des Beaux Arts” shows indifference towards suffering by explaining the human nature of ignoring what’s not happening to them. For instance, Auden states, “ About suffering they were never wrong, / The old masters: how well they understood…”. Misery when not experienced by people is simply looked over and not given a second glance; however, the elderly knew what was actually happening around them because they had already experienced it. Brueghel’s “Landscape of the Fall of Icarus” displays the true ignorance of people, especially when nobody want’s to admit what is happening right before their eyes. For example, Brueghel illustrates Icarus crashing into the sea with a fisherman a couple feet in front of him on land looking in the same direction, all without acting upon the unfortunate event. This painting demonstrates how something extremely obvious, such as suffering, can be overlooked with such ease to the

For Instance, Sexton writes, “...see how casually / he glances up and is caught, wondrously tunneling / into that hot eye. Who cares that he fell back to sea?”. Indifference towards a hardship can be an acceptable action because when someone focuses more on potential suffering rather than the potential to reach their dreams they will never achieve them. Icarus didn’t care that he fell, he was able to accomplish his goals and that’s all that mattered to