“I am expressing my horror of the military caste which is now plundering Spain into an ocean of misery and death" (Pablo Picasso). For centuries, war has been a controversial topic throughout the world. On one hand people believe that the ends justify the means, while on the other hand people believe war is the most immoral act by mankind. As people searched for ways to justify war, Pablo Picasso searched for ways to stop it. Picasso saw no glory in warfare, instead he saw countless lives being destroyed by man itself. Picasso embraced this anti-war emotion and decided to create the mural Guernica in response to Nazi bombings in Spain. As time went on Guernica became one of the most influential pieces across the world. Picasso cleverly integrates the motif of agony with unique figures, scenery and colors to convey the message that war is not justified due to the misery and destruction it brings upon civilizations such as Spain. 

Some of the most significant symbols in Picasso’s Guernica are the detailed portrayals of human and animal figures. At first, the eye captures a feminine figure beneath the bull experiencing misery as she screams to the sky. However, when looking closely one will begin to notice that this agony is over the death of her child. Picasso uniquely uses this placement of a child to not only represent the physical life that is lost but also the moral innocence that is destroyed by war. Instead of conveying this feeling of agony through blood and violence, Picasso does it all through the women’s facial expression. Immediately the feeling of despair and lost is reverberated through the woman’s body language as she cuddles her dead child. Furthermore, Picasso cleverly paints a human figure to the far right similar to the feminine figure to re-echo this feeling of sorrow. In this particular image the human is painted with their hands up as he pleads into the sky with pain. Picasso intelligently paints the figure trapped in darkness and surrounded by walls to represent the people who are confined by the violence of war. Both of these human images strongly convey the tragedies of war. Death, brutality and anguish are the only things expressed because to Picasso it is the only thing experienced through war. By shining light on these tragedies, Picasso is able to express the true destruction of war. The human figures symbolically represent the civilization of Spain that is being destroyed by the violent efforts of man. These efforts are portrayed with such viciousness and misery to ultimately scream to the world that it is not justified. 

Picasso continues to emphasize on this anti-war message with his symbolic use of animals. Towards the far left of the painting stands a bull beneath the light. Significantly the bull is a national symbol for Spain. Different from all the other figures in the painting, the bull is the only one peacefully positioned. Looking closely one will notice that all other figures are turned towards the bull. Perhaps this “peaceful center” was illustrated to portray a plead for peace from Spain. Or perhaps Picasso painted the bull so peacefully to represent a national message that amidst all this chaos and agony, the people of Spain will remain strong and will find a place of peace from within.  Contrary to the bull, is the image of the horse. In the center, the horse is painted distorted as it whines into the sky with pain similar to the humans. Additionally, the horse is wounded by the sword of his owner which could represent the testimony that this destruction is only done by man, ourselves. Uniquely Picasso paints the humans and animals on the same level to pin point the idea that the tragedies of war affects more than just a single man, it affects a civilization. 

Furthermore, Picasso’s symbolic setting helps emphasize the dark atmosphere that is created by war. The mural Guernica is ingeniously painted in some type of jail cell setting. The jail cell setting in this instance represents the torture and imprisonment of the people. It is because of war that man reaches the point when he or she feels it is essential to confine and torture the innocent. When he or she feels suitable to demoralize and dehumanize people as prisoners. Moreover, the various shades of black and grey help intensify the overall drama and devastation in Guernica. Picasso uses these particular dark colors to represent the thick smoke that suffocates the people after war. He uses an interrogation style lamp to shine light on just the dead. It is interesting that Picasso in this instance uses the light to capture the message that nothing glorious comes from war but senseless death. With Picasso’s setting highlighting the death and cruelty, Guernica proves itself as a strong symbol that hopes to save future civilizations from the destruction of war.

So do the ends really justify the means? For Picasso it is clear the answer would be no. Through the eyes of Picasso any individual would witness innocent animals and people pleading at the foot of death for peace. He or she would see helpless and innocent children dying a meaningless death. Picasso took it upon himself to destroy this envision. Ironically he achieved this by symbolically painting this vision itself. The misery and suffering that Guernica portrays so well allows it to be one of most iconic pieces against war. Perhaps the United States wouldn’t try to save every life during a combative missions or perhaps the United States wouldn’t take as many precautionary steps. Either way, society today doesn’t fight to go to war but to prevent it. Maybe it is because of Guernica that the idea of war is seen as the most unjustified and immoral act by man. 
