National Mall Photo Essay - Symbolic Monuments
When exploring the different monuments in Washington D.C., one is able to find much of our Nations rich history. The different war memorials are something interesting to see, hard for some of us to remember the bittersweet existence of that part of our past. Although I enjoy most all of the monuments, I feel that the most important are those of our past influential presidents. I feel that it is important to remember each of the presidents for the things they accomplished during their terms and to be appreciative. Through the structure and display of the presidential monuments, we are able to understand their importance and the way in which our Nation would like to remember them.
The first monument I explored and analyzed was the monument dedicated to the first president of our Nation, George Washington. I had already decided to explore this as I have always been interested in the history of George Washington and how our first president came to be. Also, my dad serves in the United States Navy, and is a member of the George Washington battle group, he serves on the Carrier. This has been a part of my life for so long, George Washington’s name puts a smile on my face and Patriotism in my heart. Once I was able to view the monument I felt it was very appropriately constructed for the importance Washington holds in our society. I had always wondered why they didn’t build a statue of him for us to remember him by, but after analyzing this structure and trying to find the symbolism of its existence I was able to understand the abstract existence of this monument in our Nations capital. The symbolism I found to explain why the monument is the way it is and not just a simply statue, is that Washington is in a sense our first father, he, with some help, began to build and lay the framework for the lives we live today. It is important that his monument be big and surpass all of the other structures in our capital because his is the base of it all, the heart of our government.
Next I viewed photographs of the Lincoln memorial and I was able to see immediately the complexity of this monument. A statue of Lincoln is housed in a huge temple resembling that of a Greek God. By seeing this I was able to understand that our Nation feels that Abraham Lincoln was very important. When considering the different possible forms of symbolism to draw from the structure I began thinking of what I pray for when I pray to God, or what the Greeks would pray to their Gods. A lot of times when I pray I am essentially praying for God to save me from something. After this I was able to draw some symbolism in the structure in which Lincolns statue is held. He saved our nation, this makes him a very powerful man, and we should ‘worship’ and ‘glorify’ him through remembering what he did for our Country.
The last monument I explored what that of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Through movies, like Pearl Harbor, I have come to appreciate more fully the decisions FDR made for our country. When viewing the different aspects of Roosevelt’s memorial I realized it was very different than the other two I had viewed. This memorial showed Roosevelt in different aspects of his life. I found this symbolically to show his dynamic personality. When choosing which aspects to write on I found the inscription behind the scene of Roosevelt sitting with his dog, the inscription talks about ‘new order,’ and that those seeking to build a government based on the needs of everyone by a few are not doing anything new and not having order. I had some question to what this meant exactly and their was debate among one of my historically intelligent friends and myself, a sadly clueless citizen. I felt that Roosevelt was stating what Democracy is not, and he was implying that Democracy is and should be a government ruled by the people. Then my friend informed me that this was probably said in efforts to rally the nation for World War II, and Roosevelt was simply stating we should fight for what is right, Democracy. I am able to understand where each of us believe what we do, although I feel we are both correct in our assumptions. Overall I enjoyed this monument because it showed different aspects of Roosevelt’s life, including those times in which he struggled. The monument is very influential because it also shows us citizens that amidst all of Roosevelt’s personal struggles he was a strong and proud man, standing for our nation.
Although I was not personally able to go into DC and view these monuments I have been told of each monuments history multiple times by my grandfather, a daily commuter to our nations capital. By exploring these monuments I felt a sense of shame because I realized how little I know about our nation’s history. I used to think it was funny that I was so clueless about our history, now I feel it is disappointing I am uninformed, our history is extremely interesting and people should want to learn about it. By viewing the monuments I also felt a sense of pride and Patriotism in knowing that I am a member of this nation.