Edward Hopper's Nighthawks takes place in a lonely city that is lifeless between the streets, the diner, and the buildings that arise behind it. While the light within the diner aluminates through the windows and latches on to the dark gloomy streets, four people sit in inaudible silence as the chef cleans out a glass. A woman with a red dress that matches her flowing hair sits looking uninterested and exhausted while she examines her hand. Meanwhile, two men in black suits with stern postures beam over the red diner bar. The diner separates the four people from the loneliness of late night streets. Even though, the four people still feel the loneliness that creeps upon them from the shadows of the night. Each of them contemplate about their fears, problems, and life trials while sitting only a couple of feet away from one another. The darkness of the night correlates with the empty sensation of loneliness that these people encounter.
There are many signs of exact repetitions within this visual analysis. The buildings that are concealed behind the street and the diner contain a sequence of windows that could resemble apartments. In which they could reside above a neglected local business. In comparison to the diner with seats that duplicate in rows, it could be discovered that the diner is the center of
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industry within the barren city. The windows that repeat one another create the lonely translucent feeling in the diner. They separate the darkness of the outside world to a more light-hearted feeling that rouses through the bleak diner. While each of the costumers that rest their minds and bodies after a compacted day, they sit in neighboring chairs and enjoy a drink of any kind in three white mugs. As the person who is just observing the painting, it could not be known what type of beverages is held within these three mugs. It could be anything from black coffee to hard liquor, depending on the type of trauma or difficulties that each of them have gone through. It can also be perceived that Edward Hopper chose to utilize the first step of The Method in so many different ways to create a sense of compromising the feeling of loneliness, because the items that are repeated are not by themselves. There are also many similar repetitions that correlate with this piece. The aged apartment windows each contain green curtains that are all at different levels of height. It can be inferred that the people who reside within these apartments are similar to one another but not exactly the same. Along with the two men that sit further away from one another, both of the stern men are dressed in black suits with grey hats. The first man sits with his face toward the visual analyst, he looks exhausted and disappointed while smoking a cigarette. The second man sits with his back towards the observer which leads him to become a classification of mystery, he sits in solitude on the opposite side of the bar. A theme used throughout this piece is the color red. The woman in the red dress matches the color of the neglected building behind her. It can be assumed that since she correlates with the red color on the building, that she too could feel neglected and alone, much like the building that stands behind her. Each of the patterns reflect back on the idea of loneliness. Along with many similarities, there are also some binary oppositions that can be discovered by visual observation of the piece. It was mentioned already about the men in the black suits, but both of them are an opposition of the chef that wears white. The color black is an example of dominance and power, while the color white can be more referred to as calm and eerie. This can determine the placement of the customer in comparison to worker. Which can go along with the phrase "the customer is always right", and can show that the chef is alone in his ranking compared to the customers in the diner. The ratio of men to woman can also play a role in inferring a woman's stance during this time period. In the time period that this piece was created, it was unusual for women to have a long day at work or stay out late at night. Which could also mimic her character as being an outcast. One repetition that stands out in this piece is the fact that the diner is illuminated with a bright florescent light, while the outside streets and buildings are dark with shadows that are depleted by the light that shines out from the diner windows.
The light beaming through the window represents that loneliness and despair can be consumed by positivity, if the right environment is in place. The warmth of the light inside of the diner can represent comfort to the people within it. It creates a separation from the cold darkness that lingers outside. The dimmed streets are a metaphor of the emptiness that each of the people portrayed in the image are
feeling. The woman with flowing hair, lips, and attire all in red is an anomaly within this piece. She grasps the observer's attention by not only the vibrant colors she possesses but also because she is the only female in the picture. Today, this would not be such an eye-catching figure, but previously when this image was created, it would have had a different affect because of the lack of women in the working industry and most women would stay at home and tend to the family. Directly next to the red woman is a brown door. The diner itself does not portray to have a main entrance, however this door could make the observer contemplate what lies behind it. Could it be the kitchen? Is there a possibility that it is a backdoor? Is it just a sad excuse for a main entrance? It could represent that the path you choose to take in life may not be directly in front of you, and it might not seem as if it is the right way. Likewise, it could not be known until it was attempted. In the final analysis, this image by Edward Hopper can be interpreted by the feeling of loneliness, emptiness, and small rays of optimism. From the metaphors of the dark empty streets to the woman dressed in red. Each of these aspects relate to the overall message that Hopper was trying to convey. The message being, that loneliness is not always so lonely. The four-people with dazed looks and stressed postures have all been in the same situation of feeling like they are at a loss in life. With each of them containing their own stories of their past trials and tribulations, they sit just feet away from one another in the comfort of the warmly lit diner as each of them feel they are the only ones going through a hard time in life. When in reality, they are more alike than they think. The way that Hopper revealed his message was subtle yet prominent in the way he depicted the streets and abandoned buildings compared to the diner that thrives at night.
The author illustrates the “dim, rundown apartment complex,” she walks in, hand and hand with her girlfriend. Using the terms “dim,” and “rundown” portrays the apartment complex as an unsafe, unclean environment; such an environment augments the violence the author anticipates. Continuing to develop a perilous backdrop for the narrative, the author describes the night sky “as the perfect glow that surrounded [them] moments before faded into dark blues and blacks, silently watching.” Descriptions of the dark, watching sky expand upon the eerie setting of the apartment complex by using personification to give the sky a looming, ominous quality. Such a foreboding sky, as well as the dingy apartment complex portrayed by the author, amplify the narrator’s fear of violence due to her sexuality and drive her terror throughout the climax of the
I think the main idea the narrators is trying to emphasize is the theme of opposition between the chaotic world and the human need for community with a series of opposing images, especially darkness and light. The narrator repeatedly associates light with the desire to clear or give form to the needs and passions, which arise out of inner darkness. He also opposes light as an idea of order to darkness in the world, the chaos that adults endure, but of which they normally cannot speak to children.
Winters, Kelly. "Critical Essay on Night." Nonfiction Classics for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Nonfiction Works. Ed. David M. Galens, Jennifer Smith, and Elizabeth Thomason. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
The opening paragraph of the story contains a metaphorical passage: "I stared at it in the swinging light of the subway car, and in the faces and bodies of the people, and in my own face, trapped in the darkness which roared outside"(349). This reference is significant because it is a contrast to the dismal society that the narrator and his brother Sonny live in. The darkness is the portrayal of the community of Harlem that is trapped, in their surroundings by physical, economic, and social barriers. The obvious nature of darkness has overcome the occupants of the Harlem community. The narrator, an algebra teacher, observes a depressing similarity between his students and his brother, Sonny. This is true because the narrator is fearful for his students falling into a life of crime and drugs, as did his brother. The narrator notes that the cruel realities of the streets have taken away the possible light from the lives of his brother and his students. The narrator makes an insightful connection between the darkness that Sonny faced and the darkness that the young boys are presently facing. This is illustrated in the following quote:
I also think it is a great insight to why people in the town only know about fishing looking at the town through the picture one can see that the town's right of the see. The bar picture represents The Crow’s nest which is the crew’s home away from home, or a second home. This represents how a home is made not by a building but by when one is surrounded by those you trust your life with like the employes in the Crow’s
The first few lines describe how his cousin started out in the glow of the gas station where he was, and him driving off to an open area in a town with the stars above him. The light here represented safety. Colum has started off in a situation where he was very close to this light: where there was, most likely, a store and other people. After he is done at the gas station he then drives away. Heaney gives us the image of the lampposts passing by as he drove. This shows how the light was now outside of where he was but it was still with him. Finally he drives up to Netownhamilton, passing some forests on the way and place where the only light that he is exposed to is the stars that are shining down at him from the sky. This now represents how the imminent safety that he had at the public gas station was now gone and he was isolated, in these hills only lit by stars. The safety in the light is now, far way: leaving him exposed to anything "outside". The image of the first few lines is of Colum now isolated, surrounded...
On display at the Art Institute of Chicago, Nighthawks is an oil and canvas work that represents Edward Hopper at his most iconic and popular. Hopper more than often drew on his immediate surroundings for in...
The artist used colors and light to draw one’s attention to the diner and the people in it and then to the only character not facing the viewer. This emphasis with the use of colors and light means “that our attention is drawn more to certain parts of a composition than to others” (Getlein 127); when the emphasis is on “a relatively small, clearly defined area” (Getlein 127) this is called a focal point. The focal point in this piece of art is not only the brightly lit diner sitting on the corner of an empty intersection, but also within the diner, where the eye is drawn to the individuals in the diner. In addition, the woman stands out in particular because of her red dress and the bright color of her
Many features of the setting, a winter's day at a home for elderly women, suggests coldness, neglect, and dehumanization. Instead of evergreens or other vegetation that might lend softness or beauty to the place, the city has landscaped it with "prickly dark shrubs."1 Behind the shrubs the whitewashed walls of the Old Ladies' Home reflect "the winter sunlight like a block of ice."2 Welty also implies that the cold appearance of the nurse is due to the coolness in the building as well as to the stark, impersonal, white uniform she is wearing. In the inner parts of the building, the "loose, bulging linoleum on the floor"3 indicates that the place is cheaply built and poorly cared for. The halls that "smell like the interior of a clock"4 suggest a used, unfeeling machine. Perhaps the clearest evidence of dehumanization is the small, crowded rooms, each inhabited by two older women. The room that Marian visits is dark,...
The first setting introduced in the story is a subway. The subway is where the narrator gets the news that Sonny has been arrested. The gloomy atmosphere of the subway adds to the narrator’s sense of dread. The third line of paragraph one reads, “I stared at it in the swinging lights of the subway car, and in the faces and bodies of the people, and in my own face, trapped in the darkness which roared outside.” The theme of darkness is also mentioned and reoccurs throughout the text.
The repetition of the word "blind" introduces the theme of light and darkness. The streets of Dublin are described as "being blind"(2236) suggesting they do not lead anywhere. The houses are personified as being sombre and having "brown imperturbable faces"(2236), creating the shift from a literal setting to a state of mind. The streets remain silent until the boys are set free from school (2236), comparing the school to a prison: mundane and repetitive, and comparing their departure from school to a type of liberation for the children.... ...
His own loneliness, magnified so many million times, made the night air colder. He remembered to what excess, into what traps and nightmares, his loneliness had driven him; and he wondered where such a violent emptiness might drive an entire city. (60)
To begin with, the understanding of loneliness and desolation is identified through the use of the dark night in one of Frost’s most popular poems, “Acquainted With the Night.” Briefly, this poem revolves around a lonely speaker who is endlessly taking a walk beyond the city he or she lives in but is not able to locate anything or anyone that would comfort the speaker in his or her stage of depression. Loneliness and isolation are actually two of the crucial themes associated with this poem. The speaker is being “acquainted with the night,” because the night shares the same emotion that the speaker carries. They carry the same emotion because from personal references, the nighttime is often referred to as the time of reflection, sadness, loneliness, and indeed isolation. There is and evident choice of diction to depict isolation like, “the furthest city light,” (L3) as the speaker grows farther away from the city and loses light, which contributes more to the idea of the dark night. This also heightens the understanding of the speaker’s depression and isolation. “The s...
It takes a while to process everything that is going on, but once you see the whole picture, the smaller details come out and are noticeable, even within the visually assaulting Square. The tall buildings are the first things you recognize; just the sheer size of them makes you feel like a tiny, unremarkable speck of dust. Each has its own character and was created with a unique design. A uniting factor of the buildings is the windows. The glass surface reflects the afternoon sun’s light, making a giant mirror from the buildings’ sides. The mirrors create an enormous hall of other building’s distorted reflections. Hanging from the buildings are advertisements for everything under the sun. Many billboards are for the different musicals that are going to be shown at Broadway soon; the classics, like West Side Story, Phantom of the Opera, Annie, and Wicked, are always there. Others are announcing the release of a new HP laptop, or Samsung HDTV. Some unveil a high fashion store’s new fall line of sweaters and jeans. Of course, there is the obligatory Coke commercial, telling you to enjoy a refreshing bottle of ice cold Coke.
The coffee shop I decided to do my observation was the well known Starbucks just a couple blocks away. The reason I chose this coffee shop was because of it 's style inside, it attracted me. For example, one side of the wall has a glass top, and the lower part of the wall, made of wood and painted in a bright red color, which was one thing that attracted me and stood out. Outside of the shop people can actually see through the glass wall and get to see what’s happening inside of the coffeeshop. By the entrance you see these two red ceiling lamps which were shaped in a flower bud and these two tall green plants. Once you were in, on the right of the shop there was a counter with food and things to put in your drinks such as milk, sugar, chocolate, etc and the colors and how the food was displayed and served was appealing to my eyes. Behind that counter there was a long table with different electronic devices plugged into the wall. On the middle of the those there is a fridge just for ice and when I turned to the other side and I noticed a big menu on the wall. Further more into the shop, there was an area filled with tables, chairs, and sofas. The tables were in different shapes, one was round and the others rectangular, also there was four bamboo baskets and I looked around and noticed that the walls in that area were decorated with paintings.