Closely Reading "The Problem We All Live With" by Norman Rockwell

     Racism. That's the only word that popped into my mind when I first glanced at the painting, "The Problem We All Live With" by Norman Rockwell. I knew it was documenting the day Ruby Bridges was the first African American to go to a school with students of a different race. So as I stared at it, all that came to mind was obviously racism. Still, after closely reading this detailed painting I found that it had meanings that you could never be able to grasp at first glance. Themes that were hidden underneath  complex artistic details. Details like color choice, size, body language, emotion, and even the title enhance the painting and open up deeper thoughts of what was going on not only at that point in history. But in life for every person. Since the painting is called, "The Problem We All Live With" I found that it was almost like an unfinished sentence that didn't have a right or wrong answer. It just depended on how the painting stirred the emotions in you. For me, instead of saying the "problem" was racism, new themes popped into my mind. I thought of things I face as a teen like the strength it takes to face your fears and the constant struggle of blocking the hate the world tries to force you. 

     Rockwell used many tools to make me think about the theme of finding the strength it takes to face your fears. One was how the U.S. Marshals towered over the girl in size. So much that their faces didn't fit in the painting. It really showed me how much strength this girl had to have. Facing something that no one else would do. All on her own. It was clearly stressed by how small she was and innocent she looked. Yet there she is facing everyone fears. She has more courage than even the Marshals. Another tool used was the body language of the Marshals. They stand with fists and walk at the same pace. I think this shows the importance of their jobs to protect the girl and not let fear get in the way. Also Rockwell makes Ruby's face blank, without any emotion. showing the power she has to not get scared by all that's happening to her. All of these details helped to to discover more about the text.

     The theme dealing with blocking out the hate that the world tries to force on you was also provoked by the clever details Norman Rockwell had in the painting. One example was The color of her perfectly white dress. The white against her very dark skin made me think about the clearer idea about racism. It was almost so obvious in the painting but also hidden. Still, deeper than that the white dress to me gave the girl such an angelic quality that made me think about her innocence. She's just a regular girl still unharmed by the rage that hurts people in the world. She is both literally and metaphorically unstained from the world. Literally because her dress is perfectly white and metaphorically because I think her mind is still clear of the "stains" that are clearly going on in the world around her. Or she's aware but just blocking them out. The details of the hurtful words graffitied on the wall behind her act as a reminder of the hate that the world was feeling. It hangs over her in big letters but still she ignores it. The big red tomato stain on the wall also ties back to what I thought about her being free of stains like this one. These were just some details that Norman Rockwell included. Things a person would miss at first glance.

     Overall, the painting isn't just about racism. It evokes different emotions for different people. I think this painting relates to the world because, as a teen, I feel like a lot of the time we are constantly trying to pretend like we don't hear or see and the negative and hurtful things that happen around the world or just in school everyday. When someone especially is trying to hurt you I think it's human to put up a wall that blocks you from it. It's keeping that wall up thats the really tricky part though. Because people will be shouting and screaming, trying to break the wall down. To see you hurt and knocked down. The struggle that comes along with facing your fears is also something that we deal with as teens and for the rest of our lives. It happens to all of us and soon we find the strength it takes to face anything that scares us. This painting is so powerful and it helped me to see that each person has a time when they have to face the hate the world is trying to force feed into them.