One of my favorite songs states “Its better to feel pain than nothing at all”. The feeling of pain is an essential part of life, and rather than sleeping through it all without any sense, it is better to live even if their will be pain. The feeling of pain is not only natural but in a way it is a necessity. If there was no reason to alleviate this pain then there would be no need to live. If we achieve true euphoria without psychical or mental barrier then there is no point in putting effort into changing things. However with this pain our world is ever changing, trying to find new and better ways to solve our pain. And through these efforts sometimes we fail but other times we gain even by accident. This is what Boxer communicates when she states ““When people forge tools or build things, they are often trying to alleviate discomfort. But first they must define the discomfort”. We have the need to create things because we have the necessity to fix the pain we are experiencing, without this vital part of life we cannot have the creative force of pain driving us to push on.
When I saw the Laocoön statue in person this summer, it didn’t really affect me as much as it did after I read this article. I never really thought about the story behind it when I observed the art, I definitely appreciated its beauty and grace, but I didn’t think that this was an art that people looked down upon. When you see a muscular guy struggling against monstrous tentacles, the first thing you really think of is a heroic story, however it was one of punishment and terror. As this man went against the gods and is art to show the aftermaths of disobeying authority. Boxer states “the sculpture [of Laocoön] didn’t change, but the idea of pain and justice did”, and I completely agree with this, because when we think of justice and pain we don’t think about putting this out in the public for people to view and admire. We feel pity for those that go through pain, rather than enjoyment that they got what they “deserved”, and we would never relish such images of pain now.
