The Response of the Artist in Life Class

The response of a visual artist does not differ from that of a journalist or even a civilian in the face of wartime atrocity. The response should always be one of truth. The journalist responds with words that are meant to depict the true reality of what is happening. The civilian even tries to gauge the truth through all the senses and means available, responding in ways open to himseeking help, giving help, seeking justice, offering mercy, and so on. The response of the visual artist is simply to show what is therenot in words but in image. This is indeed what Paul begins to achieve in his own art, which in the wake of the war experience is imbued with a hitherto absent authority (Scott). In other words, he begins to see and to realize the deeper realities of life. That which eludes him in the beginning of the novel in Tonks life art class (his inability to draw the line below the skin) is reflected in his art, which has been purified through intense experience of ultimate realitieslife and death.

At the heart of the novel is the idea that life is about being engagedin one way or another. The novel is filled with complicated characters, from Paul to Neville to Elinorall of whom are trying to find their way, while seeming more or less capable, confident, or lucky than they might actually be. The point is that life comes at everyone, and everyone responds differentlysome engaging with it, as Paul learns to do with the Red Cross, and others hiding from it, feeling the engagement to be too intense or frightening. The point of the artist,...

The whole point of being an artist is to represent the reality, to tell the truth about the realityand this is what Paul begins to do at the end of the novel: he writes to Elinor, Ive taken to...…psychological toll, just as civilians do at home.

Civilians, on the other hand, occupy a unique position. Unlike artists and journalists, most civilians do not choose to be witnesses to war. They are often its most vulnerable victims, caught in the crossfire without any means of escape. Their primary concern is survival, not documentation or representation. In Life Class, Barker touches upon this when she describes the experiences of Elinor. Yet, even as civilians prioritize survival, they too engage in acts of documentation and representation. They tell stories. They reflect. The letters of Elinor to Paul are this, in fact.

In conclusion, Life Class, as the title suggests, explores the notion that life itself is a class, and those who show up and engage are the ones who learn to see most deeply. Artists may grapple with their talent and their responsibility to represent war, as do journalists, but in the end all are trying to focus and live and be true. Everyone is trying to contribute to something higher in this way, something unchanging and eternal.

Works Cited

Barker, Pat. Life Class. Doubleday, 2007.

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