Random Digg user wrote: The painter was deaf, or afraid of becoming deaf.
Look at the pic - nothing is making noise. The horses' hooves weren't touching the ground, the ground is covered in a sound-muting blanket of snow, and it's night-time (which is usually attributed to tranquility).
The professor said, "Think of what the place would look like with all the objects removed". That would leave an expanse of snow. Being deaf has been aptly described as "white noise", and many compare it to snow.
Being or becoming deaf also affects one's ability to sense motion and direction, as it creates problems with the inner ear. Many deaf people experience vertigo, or the feeling that they've lost their balance and are falling. That would explain the general spiral motion of the picture.
Im pretty sure this is the winner.
Dang! I was absolutely just going to say that!!!
I noticed that nothing was making noise in the pic, but I don't think it had to do with deafness; that's not a disorder. I was thinking along the lines of Autism: extremely sensitive to noise...fantasies around him...
3threal, why? Stop throwing garbage here.. lawl mart, I definitely like the the snowglobe/God complex theory. Chapman also had this kind of delusion about his "little people." The title of Catcher in the Rye refers to a poem by... I don't remember his name, but he was Scottish. But it refers to kids playing in a big field of rye in which the tall stalks of rye blind them from a cliff at one edge. The "catcher" catches the kids as they're running blindly towards the cliff. In the book, it symbolizes the main character's urge to be the kid's protector/guardian from all of the dirty realities of the world adults live in. It's not hard to imagine a God complex emerging from these kinds of thoughts. I agree, this discussion is very interesting.
OK. I can't access the 4th and 5th page of this topic, so I'm trying to post to see if I can get there this way..
The best explanation I've heard so far is that he is afraid of becoming deaf, though I think maybe he's afraid of being a snowman or being trapped inside a snowglobe like someone already mentioned, hence the "circular" path in the painting
On December 03 2006 00:08 Tadzio00 wrote: (my)Final guess: it's nighttime and everyones outside doing daytime activities.
i have to go with the day/night option too...
if u look at the picture, u dont see a source of light(the light from houses is just to weak, and there are no street lamps or anything) and yet--its very bright, almost like its a sunny day... only if u look at the sky u see that its night time...