Looking deeper into the picture, analyzing the nature and philosophy of love helps define the love that is being displayed. Love can be classified into three Greek terms: eros, agape, and philia. This image mainly represents two of the 3 different classifications of love as eros is more of a romantic love. Agape love involves commitment and showing faithfulness. This type of love is“ extended to include a brotherly love for all humanity”( Moseley 2). In this picture, the soldier is dressed in his uniform in an environment that looks like a war zone. Being a soldier means you are serving you country and fighting for freedom. The amount of courage, determination and sacrifices that are made are undeniable. A soldier not only is fighting for their country, but also helping the innocent civilians whose country is in war and home is in complete destruction. This signifies the soldier showing their love for all of humanity. This classification of love that is seen in the picture can also follow one of Plato’ s theories. In short, Plato states once you appreciate God, you can have a greater love for everybody else. It is easy to perceive the soldier’ s love for the young boy and even the boy’ s love for the soldier in this picture.
The next classification of love is called philia. Philia“ encompasses love for fellow humans, care, respect, and compassion for people in need”( Moseley 4). This soldier is showing his love for this little boy in need. This young boy may have lost his family and home in the war and now has nobody. The American soldier may give the boy a sense of security and even a sense of parental love which goes beyond friendship. Exploring the different classifications of love can help generate what it really signifies.
When interpreting this picture from the soldier and young boy’ s point of view, it gives a greater sense of what love and emotions may be expressed. Hand gestures and people’ s physical behavior may speak more than words. All around the world, there are different cultures that express love in different ways. A handshake, a kiss, and a hug may be a bigger representation of love than speaking words. In a lot of European cultures, a kiss on the cheek, is a greeting to somebody that they may not even know. Even in a professional environment this is seen as an acceptable gesture. In the American culture, this may be viewed more negatively and a handshake would be more appropriate. With the multitude of gestures around the world for the word“ love”, it is clear that both our environment and society play a large role in what is accepted and customary. In this picture, the soldier is reaching his hand out to the young boy. It is perceived that there is silence among them, but both of them shared a smile with each other. Overall, emotions and
16 love can be expressed in different ways depending on the situation.
With that being said, Brian Parkinson and his colleagues created a theory that describes emotion in a particular way. He shares that emotion is“ something that emerges directly through the medium of interaction. Interpersonal factors are typically the main causes of emotion, and emotions lead people to engage in certain kinds of social encounter or withdraw from such interpersonal contact”( Johnson 5). The contact of both their hands is a symbol of the soldier’ s love for the young boy. Most likely, the boy and soldier speak two different languages, so this handshake may have been their only form of communication of love. A philosopher, Kristina Wasa, shares“ Love does not enter by the ear, it enters by the eye”( Conley 8). Therefore, not even speaking words may be more powerful in expressing love. This handshake can also symbolize unity. The young boy and soldier are of two completely different cultures and backgrounds. Therefore, this symbol of love can create more unity and peace for people all over the world.
On the other hand, viewing this picture as being on the outside of it, could create a variety of different perspectives from the public. An emotion can be defined“ as a response to a specific stimulus that can be internal, like a belief or a memory”( Johnson 1).