Ernst's "A Week of Kindness" Translation

Max Ernst’s A Week of Kindness roughly deals with subjects like fear, death and abuse. In each panel and section there is a repeating element, such as the rooster or the Easter Island head. He tackles darker subject matter while adding a touch of horror with the repeating element. The majority of the time, the men are the ones depicted as the repeating objects. For example, in several of the first panels, the man has the head or body of the chicken. The same goes for the final few panels with the Easter Island head. The repeating elements are never put in a good situation, they are always inflicting some point of pain or suffering.

The first day, the element is blackness and the example is the rooster. The term “blackness” can be a reference to death or lack of light. Many of the illustrations deal with some type of death or darkness. This can be translated into the meanings behind the work and what the author’s intent was.

The second part of the work deals with the regrets that man face. They are shown in situations where they are showing sorrow or self pity. It implies that the Easter Island head is them putting on a brave face to hide their sorrow as not to be perceived as weak or emotional.

Many deal with the subjectification and torture of women and how men are perceived as evil or cowardly. The fact that the men don’t have faces can speak to the hidden side to them that only their wives see. This can speak to the possible abuse that the author witnessed or was a part of in his life. It focuses on internal psychology and the taboos of the time.