The Ship Must Always Set Sail

This painting is done by Vincent Van Gogh.

I chose this painting by Van Gogh because in the myths we have been studying, a lot of things relate to the sea. In the story where Theseus battles the Minotaur, he forgets to put up a white sail on his ship, causing his own father's death. In the story Odysseus the men in the army arrive on a ship, and they didn't expect to meet a Cyclops, plus, Medea and Jason leave on a ship. Basically all the stories we have read relate to ships and journeys. On these sea voyages, the characters have their own inner journey that is similar to their own physical journey.

No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

The relationship between ships and Donne's poem is connection. What I mean by that is that the poem is trying to tell us that we are all human, and we are all connected together and ships travel to anything and everything. They are the vehicle that brings people together, and the seas are the connecting points but they need to be crossed by ships for the humans to make the connection. A ship is the travelling point, it gets you from one place to another. And in Donne's poem the line, "No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;" indicates that everything is connected.

From the video (Mankind Is No Island) it relates to the story of The Blokes. I say this because it is a really depressing video, and I think it reveals how some people are isolated by others. In The Blokes lots of Asian and Black People were isolated by The Blokes just because of their skin colors. It only takes one helping hand to save the isolation. John helps Hashim, and together they defeat The Blokes. In the video there was a man talking to a homeless person and I thought that was great because he showed kindness and that would most likely be a moment the homeless guy would never forget. Even though that this homeless man wouldn't forget this moment, what I saw from the video was him in a healthy condition. So he can make himself useful and get a job. I know it sounds harsh, but if they are in such a condition, I find them lazy to not get a job. They are perfectly healthy, and begging is the lazy way out. They could even get a low pay job, which is still better than no job. Nonetheless, what this man did, talking to this homeless man, I think it was very noble of him. And just a kind act!