A Soft Construction with a Heart

Soft Construction with a Heart

When seeing Salvador Dali’s Soft Construction with Boiled Beans and reading Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Tell Tale Heart”, one cannot help but ask, “what the f***?” The two works are known for making audiences feel uneasy and for their ability to leave behind a strong impression, but what really makes them similar are the themes they explore. They focus on being shortsighted, in which the artist or narrator is preoccupied by mundane elements as opposed to what is relevant. The theme of conceit is also used through imagery and the narrator’s actions. Finally, both contain the theme of nonconformism by conveying provocative ideas and causing the reader to question common thought.

When looking at Dali’s painting Soft Construction with Boiled Beans, most wonder where the boiled beans are. After a while they may find the beans sprinkled out at the bottom of the canvas, hidden by the more dominant elements. Whatever reason it may be, Dali’s choice of setting aside one of the central ideas force audiences to preoccupy themselves with other elements such as the disembodied limbs and the scenery. In the same way does the narrator of “A Tell Tale Heart” become preoccupied by the old man’s eye, a very minor feature. The narrator at the start mentions, "For it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye,” (Poe 2). If someone felt the urge to kill someone, it would be for logical reasons such as for revenge or power. Instead, the narrator is obsessed with a minor feature. What differs between Dali and the narrator is that Dali makes a conscious choice of focusing on other elements, while the narrator is under the heel of his insanity. However, the two are narrow minded in that they do not see the bigger picture and instead focus on minor elements, deliberately or not. In Dali’s case, it is beneficial since it allows him to show the audience what he finds more relevant, while the narrator is harmed by not being able to see the bigger picture and stop himself from committing the crime.

The most prevalent element in Soft Construction with Boiled Beans is the structure of contorted limbs. A head sits on top craned upwards with a smug expression. Attached to it is a leg set on top of the pelvis of another figure, asserting dominance over it. The bottom figure is submissive, struggling to fight back. There are two main elements in conflict, and their struggle is symbolic of how the pride of the dominant can spur retaliation from the underdog. The narrator in the same way is proud as he disposes of the corpse, "In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room ... in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, [I] placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim,” (Poe 7). He is overconfident about the murder while being self aware. This harms him because he cannot get the police to leave before being overwhelmed by the urge to admit his crime. The two pieces focus on the consequences of pride, with the two differing slightly on the types of pride explored. The painting shows pride with regards to dominance, while the story shows it in its relation to overconfidence.

While both pieces are well thought out and deliberate, it is no doubt they are also shocking. A hand clenching a breast and a tongue resting on the thigh are indecent and obscene. While randomness is the nature of surrealism, Dali challenges the norm of keeping art polite. In A Tell Tale Heart, the narrator also broke the norm by committing a murder, which is against common principle. “In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him,” (Poe 6). Both instances break the norm and make the audience question popular ideals. Dali’s obscene art causes the audience ask whether art should be polite or uncensored, while the narrator’s crime causes us ask whether someone is necessarily immoral for committing a crime out of insanity.

Dali and Poe have different intentions. Dali wants to focus on what he finds relevant, show the consequences of pride in terms of dominance, and make audiences question whether art should be polite. Poe wants to create a conflict in the storyline, show the consequences of pride in terms of overconfidence, and make readers ask whether murder out of insanity is morally wrong. To achieve these intentions, the creators use the themes of myopic views, conceit and its consequences, and breaking the norm. Instead of brushing off a work as random and obscene, we have to look past what the f-acade is.