In Salvador Dali’s painting, “Metamorphosis of Narcissus” both sides of the painting portray opposite ideas that show the central themes of hope and desperation. Each side states a different story showing that with hope comes desperation, which symbolizes that in this painting both sides play off each other in order to show that these two different ideas make life whole.  Dali, a surrealist painter known for his bizarre paintings and images, uses this painting to demonstrate an old Greek myth, Narcissus, who sees his shadow and becomes obsessed bringing his life to shambles. Throughout this painting, Narcissus, the man kneeling on the left, shows desperation and sadness, while on the right side signs of life exemplifying hope, make this painting very peculiar by bringing two completely opposite ideas to the table, showing both of these balance each other out, creating life.

On the left side of the painting Narcissus kneels with his head on his knee looking at his reflection. His head rests against his knee giving off a sad tone. Behind him a fiery storm brews symbolizing the destruction and desperation in his life. As he gazes into the water, his reflection stays with the darkness and grim tone on this side of the painting. The emphasis on this side of the painting brings lots of emotion to it. Narcissus’ life has been brought down into ruin due to him knowing his own image and being self-absorbed. The women on the right of Narcissus bring another element to this side of the painting which contributes to the idea of desperation being brought into this canvas. The women symbolize another part of desperation by being smaller than the giant Narcissus, also the women seem to be weeping because Narcissus’ never welcomes anyone into his life because after seeing his reflection he feels above the rest of the people in his life. Throughout the entire left side of the painting the dark, depressing colors bring all of the elements collectively to exemplify the idea of desperation. 

All across the right side of the painting, the theme shifts from desperation to signs of hope and life. A giant stone hand lays in the ground, the hand of Echo, who dies because Narcissus rejects her. Inside the stone hand, lays an egg. Inside of the egg something begins to sprout, a big beautiful flower ends up sticking out of it. This lonely flower, shows that in times of desperation that life prevails and will continue to prevail. On the bottom of the stone hand, more life appears in the form of ants. The ants, crawling over the bottom of the hand, are taking over the stone hand that begins to wither away. When life seems dull and dark, new forms of life break through to continue on. A stray dog eating some sort of meat brings another form of hope into this painting. The dog fights to stay alive, finding food and continuing his life, not giving up when times look tough but powering through when needed. Off in the distance a blue sky appears, bringing a happy feeling to this portion of the painting. A lone man standing on top of a pedestal looking over the view of the mountains seems to be a new man looking out over his land. A simple yet powerful part of the painting showing a new part of a man’s life. On the right side of the painting the colors shift from dark and grim to bright and lively, bringing the idea of hope to all of the elements on this side.

In both sides of this painting two contradictory themes are expressed, hope and desperation. This painting connects both of them, showing that in life both of these come together to bring life to a whole. The color shift brings a lot of attention to this topic, the painting goes from dark and depressing to light and colorful. All of the elements on the left that exemplify the desperation in this painting rely on the elements on the right to make the painting one. One side would not be the same without the other. As Narcissus kneels with a fiery storm burning behind him, the feeling becomes that his life starts to come to an end. He causes his own downfall looking at his reflection and ignoring everyone around him, focusing on himself. As Narcissus begins on his journey out of life, the right side of the painting brings new life into the world. The flower symbolizes new life sprouting from something old. The ants use the stone hand as a home, finding a use for something that has been useless. As the sky changes from gloom to bright, so does the theme from desperation to hope. From desperate times to times of hope, that becomes what Dali describes with his work. A series of events that continues on no matter what the circumstance. Since the painting has two different situations, they play off one another combining to portray one simple message. The fact that with one bad thing comes a good thing.

Dali uses this painting to convey a more important message than just the story of Narcissus. He creates an influx of ideas by painting multiple aspects on his canvas. The idea that everything in this painting connects with one another. Everything in the left side falls into a dark, dejected place, searching for light. The light comes into the painting from the right side, bringing that sense of hope back into the play. Dali uses these two ideas, hope and desperation, to show the way life plays out. Life does not always allow everything to be perfect, the rough patches and struggles that Narcissus goes through in this painting on his downfall, are outweighed by the fact that new life starts to become prominent on the right side of this painting. In conclusion, Dali uses his painting to demonstrate that within one life, times of desperation occur and hope brings the darkness out of those situations.

