the meaning of monuments

A v-shaped wall made out of granite inscribed with the names of thousands of soldiers who died during the Vietnam War. It was made with the intention not to include any bodies or faces.

The wall spans 2 acres and is completely covered in the names of those who died in the war. When this is learned, it hits so much harder because it is just so many people. If it was just a large statue of a couple of soldiers, who might have even had no name to them, the emotional depth stops at a certain point. the names memorialize so much more and ultimately will have a stronger connection to its audience.

A statue of Robert e. lee riding his horse. It was built to strengthen white supremacy when people were afraid that it was "weakening". It clearly idolizes a general who was not a good person, yet it is still up.

Robert e. lee is a name that is no stranger to America, especially the south. there are many establishments that were named after him, despite the things he's done being nothing close to good. even if you don't know any of the things he has done, if you see his name or statues of him so frequently, you would assume that he is a well liked person with a good background (he's not).

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A simple stone altar dedicated to the unknown god, or Agnostos Theos. There is no exact reason behind why it was built, except that it is to show some kind of appreciation for the unknown god.

It is very ambiguous, we will never know the true intention that the artist had when creating this altar. its mysterious nature is compelling and thought-provoking.

A marble statue of Agustus ceaser, who was the first emperor of the roman empire. he appears to be elegant, pointing upwards with a stern face. it's leaving a certain message; that he's exceptional, strong, and worthy.

He is meant to be seen as a divine ruler and leave the impression that Rome is a glorious empire, due to the fact that its leader is so remarkable.

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i find that there is a difference between memorials and statues. when i think of memorials, their purpose is to retain the memory of a certain event. sometimes, that event is positive, maybe a winning score. but sometimes it might have a darker past, like slavery and racism, but must still be remembered due to the number of lives that were lost and how it is such a big part of America's history.

statues, which are stone, metal, marble carvings of a certain person, serve a similar yet quite different purpose. they are really meant to shine a strictly positive light on someone. where monuments have the goal to educate and push remembrance, statues don't do as much. when you see a statue, you might think "oh, they must have done something really amazing to have been made into this". sure, there are statues of people who are genuinely good, but what happens when the person is nowhere close to being good.