American Gothic

[peeplj]

Gonzo, not bad!

One minor quibble, though: it was always the youngest child who was raised to take care of their parents in their failing years.

This would never fall to the lot of an elder child.

--James

[djm]

After all these diatribes on middle America I feel almost ashamed to admit that I never saw them as more than husband and wife. I could never help feeling that they both have a sort of, "Who farted?" expression, coupled with a second layer that suggests they're too embarrassed to openly acknowledge that someone farted, let alone their distaste or displeasure. I do not come from a farming background, nor a slavery background, so all that other stuff just wouldn't occur to me, I'm afraid.

djm

[Innocent Bystander]

After all these diatribes on middle America I feel almost ashamed to admit that I never saw them as more than husband and wife. I could never help feeling that they both have a sort of, "Who farted?" expression, coupled with a second layer that suggests they're too embarrassed to openly acknowledge that someone farted, let alone their distaste or displeasure. I do not come from a farming background, nor a slavery background, so all that other stuff just wouldn't occur to me, I'm afraid.

djm

If you've ever been in a farmyard, you'd know you couldn't tell if an entire troupe of Uillean pipers had broken their wind, because it always smells like that.

[djm]

If you've ever been in a farmyard, you'd know you couldn't tell if an entire troupe of Uillean pipers had broken their wind, because it always smells like that.

Yes, I am aware of farm ... presence. But that's not the point, is it? I have always heard of the mid-west American moral uptightness, that it gets taken to the nth degree there. So that's what I saw in the picture: two people too embarassed to be embarassed by something that conflicts with their overstrict social mores to be able to express themselves, resulting in the slightly constipated look of afront in the painting.

djm

[Jack]

I see that at least three votes have gone to "father and daughter." It's so fascinating to me that who I always assumed to be wife and husband may not be, after all.

We interpret the painting by rules of the subculture we identify with.

Two guys (that don't look like brothers but clearly know each other because they're having a conversation) walk into a barbershop to get a haircut.

Are they co-workers, old school friends, neighbors, and/or lovers?

Granted, it doesn't matter but our brain goes ahead an makes assumptions just the same.
What we come up with says more about us than them.

I like that analogy.

P.S. Jerry, that NPR page is also fascinating. Thanks for posting it!!

[Rod Sprague]

The story I had heard was that the daughter was pleading with her father not to chase off her latest suitor, the person whose perspective we see the scene from. She did not want to end up an old maid, but was in danger of becoming so due to her father’s over protectiveness.

Rod

[cowtime]

It never occured to me that these two would be other than man and wife.

I also assumed that she would be a second or third wife, although I never assumed their's to be a "hardscrabble" farm. If it was, she'd look a lot rougher.

She is actually his third wife, the first one having died in childbirth after birthing seven young'uns, and the second succumbing to cholera. He'll father a total of 19 children

Hey, that's my great-grandfather you're talking about. Really. His first wife had 7 children. My grandmother was the eldest, the rest were boys. Then their mother died when grandma was about 13. He remarried and had 11 more children. Grandma had to help raise all these. I guess that's why she didn't marry until she was 25 which was unheard of in those days.
Oh, and then was another child that was born "on the other side of the blanket".

Having first hand knowledge of farms, I must say that kids are expected to work, and it can be hard work. It's good work though. I always loved it.

[peeplj]

Having first hand knowledge of farms, I must say that kids are expected to work, and it can be hard work. It's good work though. I always loved it.

My parents were both very hard workers, raised in a generation where a person who wasn't a hard worker was considered to be of no value at all.

It's not about how they used to work their kids--it's about how they used to treat them.

Those are two different (though related) subjects.

--James

[Mitch]

Clearly brother and sister.

More of this kind of frivolity at http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/ ... =photoshop

[Nanohedron]

...although I never assumed their's to be a "hardscrabble" farm.

Point of experience, I suppose. If I have to lift a finger, it's hardscrabble.

[anniemcu]

It never has occurred to me for a second that it would be anything other than husband & wife.

I must admit that the idea of anything else never even occured to me either ... yet the question is quite understandable... I just always thought of them as husband and wife, together, yet not demonstrative... like so many early photos.

[lilymaid]

It reminds me of a photograph my mother once took of my spouse and I trying to look serious.

[talasiga]

They are strictly unaccompanied vocals types
although the daughter is tempted by fiddle.

Mostly Ionian mode with pentatonics thrown in for variety.
But only major pentatonic and relatives.

I like the pitch fork.
Is it true that Americans greet strangers with "Hay!"

[Joseph E. Smith]

They are strictly unaccompanied vocals types
although the daughter is tempted by fiddle.

Mostly Ionian mode with pentatonics thrown in for variety.
But only major pentatonic and relatives.

I like the pitch fork.
Is it true that Americans greet strangers with "Hay!"

"Hey, how are you?".

[anniemcu]

We interpret the painting by rules of the subculture we identify with.

Two guys (that don't look like brothers but clearly know each other because they're having a conversation) walk into a barbershop to get a haircut.

Are they co-workers, old school friends, neighbors, and/or lovers?

Granted, it doesn't matter but our brain goes ahead an makes assumptions just the same.
What we come up with says more about us than them.

(emphasis mine)

Boy Howdy! And likewise, Amen!