Zarna Desai

Humanities

Professor Deihl

14 September 2023

Reading Response 3

The painting that stood out to me the most was the stormy weather created by Van Gogh.

When I look at this painting the first thing that comes to mind is the scene from Moana where

she tries to cross the water line behind her parents' backs in order to save the island from dying.

The stormy clouds are similar to the weather she was sailing in and the boats look similar. The

second time she sets sail everyone is standing on the beach watching her go off on the adventure.

When Van Gogh was painting this I imagine he was one of the people saying goodbye while she

sailed away. Maybe he is nervous or worried about someone he loves leaving to complete a

necessary mission and he doesn't know if he will see her again. He could also be painting his

point of view of a breakup and that is how he feels on the inside. The stormy clouds could depict

his feelings as a mixture of sadness and anger. He paints the waves as big and aggressive which

might symbolize the negative outcomes of a past love. I think this painting portrays Vincent as

both a participant and an observer. He falls in love with a woman whom he learns to trust and she

breaks that trust by betraying him. If I were to guess the outcome of the relationship based on

this painting I could assume it was a very messy and painful breakup. The location of the area

could even indicate he had to break up with this woman shortly before she was leaving. To

prevent a painful goodbye he watches her leave from a distance. Although the woman betrayed

him he still loves her but does not want to give her the satisfaction of knowing he still cares for
her. I associate the lack of color and dull shades he used with feeling empty. He paints an

indication of a windy night as you can see on the bottom the dunes are blowing heavily in one

direction which also supports the mood of this painting to be negative.