The Pinch of Poverty

The poor do not have the ability to make enough money to afford necessities. Sometimes that is because the market is controlled the "haves" who's least common interest are the "have-nots". Other possibilities are that there are not enough jobs or ways to make a living for every family. Poverty tends to be a cyclical cycle that one is born into and can be very hard to get out of.

The portrayal of poverty is definitely negative. The faces of all the subjects are sullen. The color of these sullen faces is pale; a sickly pale. The surrounding scene is grey and appears to be raining. Nothing seems to be alive. All hope has gone from the world. Except, the little girl's face appears to have a glimmer of hope. I saw this in her eyes and lips that seemed to almost be in a slight smile.

Hope is the defining part of any bad situation. The girl is holding a basket of bright yellow flowers. Her face, while not happy, seems to hold more hope than the others. She is set aside from the rest of her family. Because of her placement she is not against the backdrop of iron bars like her mother and siblings. Her hope has set her free. The flowers she is selling are a bright yellow which I feel symbolizes the hope that they hold. Through the selling of these flowers the girl will have money that could lessen the poverty pains.

The first aspect is her placement in the painting. The second is the bright yellow color of the flowers.