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President Franklin D. Roosevelt's The Saturday Evening Post

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Freedom from Want is my favorite of all the ads I came across during research. The history of this painting dates back to World War II and former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech. During Roosevelt’s annual State of the Union address on January 6, 1941, he spoke about four freedoms. The four fundamental freedoms are freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. Norman Rockwell was inspired by this speech and made painting that depict each of the fundamental freedoms. Two years later, on March 6, 1943,"The Saturday Evening Post" published the set of paintings by Norman Rockwell. The paintings later became the centerpiece for war bonds advertisement and raised $130,000,000 in war bond sales. Among all …show more content…

The scenery seems to be exactly like that of a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. The art shows an extended family of parents, grandparents and children sitting around a table for a meal. An elderly woman in apron-which I assume is grandma-is placing a huge juicy looking turkey at the center of the table. There are also fruits and other small dishes on the table. Grandpa is on his feet at the end of the table staring at the juicy turkey. The family members are on either side of the table and speaking happily. There is also a gentleman whose gaze is directed at the viewer and the dining table also extends beyond the image. There are also two important texts in the image. On the top of the painting is the text “ours to fight for” and at the bottom is the title of the painting “Freedom from …show more content…

Other country’s economy-especially countries in Europe-had been damaged due to the war. The extension of the table past it canvasses serve as an invitation for anyone and everyone to join in the meal. So Americans would associate Thanksgiving-a time to share-and would be more inclined to help. The turkey is the most noticeable piece in the painting. The turkey seems to be well made and cooked to perfection. The turkey’s beautiful appearance along with its enormous size show plenitude and abundance. However, a large percentage of the world population in 1943 were living in hunger and poverty. “At least 3 million people died from starvation and malnutrition during a famine in the Indian province of Bengal” (Lazzaro). Therefore the huge turkey in this image serves as a motive. The huge turkey represents freedom from want. It creates the assumption that the turkey (freedom from want) is worth fight for. Freedom from want is also a display of patriotism. Rockwell chose to make illustrations of Roosevelt's proposed freedoms instead of painting any random image. Freedom from Want affirms traditional American values, depicting Americans as prosperous and free, and effectively communicates the warmth, security and hope of an idealized vision of American family life. Freedom from Want encouraged those in 1943 to invest in attaining such freedom

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