Memorials

This week in class, we discussed memorials. We saw how many memorials usually included many symbols. For example, the color black that is present in the Vietnam War memorial symbolizes the imminent power and presence of death. The memorial that I first thought about during this class discussion was the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

I remember going to the memorial during our 8th grade Washington DC trip. This memorial really touched me for some reason when I went there.  I think it was because of the revelation I had when I realized that the inscription on the memorial, a quote be Martin Luther King Jr., was the actual scene that was depictated  at the memorial. The quote was,"With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.” This was exactly what the memorial was depicting. When you walk into the memorial, you walk through a corridor in-between two granite structures which make up the mountain of despair. On the walls of the corridor, you see scrape marks which depict the struggles of the civil rights movement. When you exit the corridor, you see a beautiful plaza which represents and finally the Focal point of the memorial, a 30ft statue of Martin Luther King Jr, shown in deep thought with a resolute gaze, is seen protruding out of the stone of hope that was carved out of the mountain of despair. There are many other symbolic aspects of the memorial. The memorial is placed on 1964 Independence Avenue, corresponding to the year that the 1964 civil rights act became law. The memorial is also placed in between the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial.