The Rhetorical Message Of The Photograph Sonata For Freedom

The Rhetorical Message of the Photograph: â€Å"Sonata for Freedom† This photo, named â€Å"Sonata for Freedom† for the purposes of this essay, was taken by an unknown photographer in Chechnya in 1994 (teamjedan.wordpress.com). Chechnya is a republic in southwestern Russia. In 1991, the Republic of Chechnya began fighting for independence from Russia, so in 1994, Russia sent approximately 40,000 troops to silence them (cnn.com). The reason for this sudden turn to violence was the fact that Nelson Mandela had recently become president of South Africa, and so the President of Russia (Boris Yeltsin at the time) sent his troops there to restore order (teamjedan.wordpress.com). The anonymous photographer uses a single Russian soldier attacking the†¦show more content†¦Lastly, the soldier’s head is down and one cannot see his face, which is most likely to show the shame that the soldier must feel after having taken so many lives, and to create the assumptio n that the soldier is actually playing the piano and creating a sort of harmony for himself, most likely to distract himself from the war. To conclude, the soldier in the picture is seemingly playing himself a song, which connotatively means that he is finding peace and distraction in the otherwise horrendous world he is a part of. After this, one’s eye is drawn to the Burgundy, worn-out piano that juxtaposes with the soldier. Firstly, this piano is worn out to show that the country itself would be worn out, after having used all of it’s money and power in an attempt to fend off Russia. The piano is burgundy because it is almost a blood-like colour, and the use of this blood-like colour aids in the creation of a very effective juxtaposition with the soldier, almost as though it is an allusion to â€Å"war and peace†; the soldier is a symbol of war, and since so many people find happiness and a sense of tranquility with music, the piano is a symbol for peace. Furthermore, there is also a lot of triangulation between the soldier and piano. A sort of diamond shape is created with the soldier, since there is triangulation between both his head and the middle of the piano and the middle of the piano and his feet. The use of triangulation here helps draw the viewer’s eyes so that