Response to Sontag Question

Sontag believes that war only has one perception. War often has a one-sided point of view. In the chapter one she describes that war can be conveyed through photographs. Those can either serve one of two purposes. It can educate and enlighten people about the horrors of war. It can illustrate to individuals the destruction caused by war and how death and misery are the only results from war. Photographs can also capture the glory of war. These photos can glorify war and show the lighter side of it. Thus when an individual looks at one these photographs, he is only able to formulate one idea. Sontag also makes connection to the perception of war with the photograph of a child torn apart in the attack on the Sbarro Pizzeria in Jerusalem. She notes that to a Jewish person the photo is of Jewish child who is victim of a ruthless attack by a Palestinian suicide bomber. A Palestinian who looks at the photo may perceive it as a Palestinian child killed by Israeli ordinance. When she makes this example she is trying to say that background of individuals and how they think will greatly affect how they perceive a polarizing photo such as this one.