Norman Rockwell’s Paintings

Norman Rockwell is a very imaginative character. He was able to paint images that captured the attention of millions. The first picture on page 22 is â€Å"A Family Tree†. It ends with a man, a woman, and a child. Because this is a family tree, we can infer that this is a husband, a wife, and their child. The second picture, â€Å"Freedom from Want†, shows a family gathering on a dinner table. That event could be what is known as Thanksgiving Dinner. The third picture, â€Å"Freedom from Fear†, shows a mom and a dad tucking there kids into bed. Now just by looking at these paintings, evidence of what they represent is pretty straight forward. This is the idealistic view of what families should look like about 50 years ago, known as the golden age for children to grow up. A little closer look, though, would reveal a different view upon these pictures. It is said that these paintings are a bit naive. The family tree starts off as what look like pirates. This is no way to represent an ideal family. In this tree, marriages from different classes of people collide to then form the perfect couple. And what about the second picture; everyone is sitting at the table with a smile on. Let’s get real people; every family has its conflicts. The last picture shows the parents putting their kids to bed and giving them comfort. Now take a look at the heading of the newspaper that the father is holding. â€Å"Bombings† and â€Å"Horror† are words that appear. Ironically, a glance at the facial expressions of the parents shows them to be very calm. I don’t know about you but I’d be pretty shaken if those were the headlines of my daily paper. The â€Å"Family Tree† painting compares with the photo of Thomas Jefferson’s tombstone. This is because the â€Å"Family Tree†, though from the same family, represents different types of people. Next to the tombstone, you also find different types of people, ranging from black to white. Each image has a different symbol, but both images represent â€Å"family. † The family tree is hereditary family, while the tombstone is national family working together as one to accomplish and make up what is now The United States of America.