"The Runaway"

"The Runaway" is a picture of a little boy around the age of 7 on a bar stool in what would appear as a diner. The boy is turned looking at a policeman who is also looking at him from his place on the bar stool next to him. A stick with a small bundle at the end tied with a bandanna is sitting on the ground next to the little boy. Artist Norman Rockwell provides a new way to look at the 1950's in this painting. The 1950's were the years following World War II and new families were being started as servicemen returned home. This started a new, fresh beginning for everyone. Here, we see how this little boy has attempted to "run away", most likely just to have fun and play what he thought was a game. Not knowing and not caring about the bigger aspects of life happening around him, the boy was simply living his childhood. This shows how carefree and innocent the little boy is. With the turn around from the war, this painting overlooks the issues of America and focuses on something more or less bittersweet for the audience- creating almost a nostalgic longing for that innocent childhood we all once had. "The Runaway" overlooks the fundamental rift that was rising in America throughout the 1950's- an emerging counter culture that was not concerned with how things were in America but rather how they are.