American Gothic

When people think of the word ‘gothic’, it is usually the word ‘black’ that comes to mind. When I first looked at the painting "American Gothic", black was the first thing that came to my attention, and it was not the clothes that made me think of the depressing color. The man and the woman standing in the painting do not crack a smile, in fear of expressing a little ounce of happiness. Of course during the 1930’s, there was not much to be upbeat about. The man stands in front of his wife holding a pitchfork, reminding us all of the long, hard days on the farm. He shows no signs of joy, as he is most likely to turn around after taking this photograph and head back to the farm. He is silent, still and black. This is truly where Americans got the gothic name. Not only is he wearing a black coat on the outside, he is wearing one on the inside. He appears to be a cold man, just going through the daily motions without a smile. The woman stands behind her husband, showing mixed emotions. She cannot look at the camera, because she fears ease. A little on the confused side, we see another thing that happened in the 1930’s and that is the woman always standing behind the man, figuratively and literally. Though she shows some signs of confusion as to whether she can or cannot be happy, she will not show anything because of the man standing in front of her who is gloomy. We still see signs of these today in the present faces of the American Gothic. However together, these two people shows us how the present American Gothic got their name.