Enlightening the World: The Statue of Liberty

摘要

Only a handful of structures have had an effect on society profound enough to become an inseparable part of the society's collective consciousness. Such edifices as the pyramids at Giza, the Eiffel Tower, and Rome's Colosseum have become much more than configurations of stone and metal marvelously engineered; they have also come to embody the ideas and values of those societies. Among such grand structures is one gracing the American landscape—namely, the Statue of Liberty—in French La Liberte eclairant le monde (Liberty Enlightening the World). Since its first appearance in New York City's harbor, the statue has grown beyond its finely molded copper form to become a beacon of hope for exiles, a monument to American independence, and a metaphor for freedom and democracy worldwide.