Exactitude

Saturday, March 20, 2010

This is a glorious image to convey "exactitude" in that we have the scales, much like "Maat" whom is the "goddess of scales" (p.55) Calvino tells us that in his mind exactitude means three things:
1) A well-defined and well-calculated plan for the work in question
2) An evocation of clear, incisive, memorable visual images.
3) A language as precise as possible both in choice of words and in expression of the subtleties of thought and imagination...(p.55-56).

I think that this image portrays all three of this things equally, on the one hand being the symbol of justice, that makes it well-defined and well-calculated not just for the legal system but for literature as well in that in order to have a cohesive story one has to have balance, of which these scales represent. They are also a clear evocation of incisive and memorable visual images for the fact that upon first glance, one knows that these scales mean balance, justice, and in some respect equality insofar as when the scales are empty they are level, but as the expression goes, when something good or bad happens that outweigh one another we tend to say that the "scales have tremendously tipped in one favor or another". Finally it is a language in and of itself, it is precise, not only because when referring to the scales we think of the zodiac sign of Libra, that is to say a person who has a level head and is very attentive to the universal needs of others.