Question

Look at the painting The Great Wave by Katsushika Hokusai.

Block print of Hokusai’s The Great Wave.

Which excerpt from the poem "The Great Wave: Hokusai" best supports the conclusion that the artist intended the wave to feel threatening?

It is because the sea is blue,
Because Fuji is blue, because the bent blue
Men have white faces, like the snow
On Fuji, like the crest of the wave in the sky the color of their
Boats.
It is because the air
Is full of writing, because the wave is still: that nothing
Will harm these frail strangers,
That high over Fuji in an earthcolored sky the fingers
Will not fall
In the painter's sea
All fishermen are safe. All anger bends under his unity.
But the innocent bystander, he merely
'Walks round a corner, thinking of nothing': hidden
He stands half in and half out of the world; he is the men,
But he cannot see below Fuji
The shore the color of sky; he is the wave, he stretches
His claws against strangers.

Answer 1

"But the innocent bystander, he merely / 'Walks round a corner, thinking of nothing': hidden / He stands half in and half out of the world; he is the men, / But he cannot see below Fuji / The shore the color of sky; he is the wave, he stretches / His claws against strangers."

Step-by-step explanation:

This excerpt supports the conclusion that the artist intended the wave to feel threatening because it describes the wave as having "claws" that stretch out against strangers. The imagery of the wave as a living, predatory entity adds to the sense of danger and threat. The mention of the innocent bystander standing "half in and half out of the world," as well as the use of the phrase "he cannot see," suggests that the wave is capable of hiding and surprising its victims. Overall, these elements contribute to the sense that the wave is a formidable and dangerous force.