Miners’ Wives by Ben Shahn Essay

The mineworkers Wives by Ben Shahn takes a bitter look at superstar of the lifestyles of the early 20th century that of the down-trodden coal miner.In the foreground of the picture, we cop the miners wife referenced in the title. She carries a stark(a) expression, her back turned to an older woman and a nestling, presumably her flummox and her offspring. Two work force walk away into the distance, and one set of apparel hangs above, unclaimed by its owner. The woman has just been informed of the mining misadventure which claimed her husbands life.Shahn says much about the mining life done the composition of his painting. His focus is on the woman who has just disorde ruby her husband. She stands off-center, not crying or hysterical, but with an expression of shock and numbness. This isnt the beginning time shes experienced this kind of pain. The presence of her mother suggests that she has lost a loved one before, presumably her father. Even the method he uses to paint her, distorted, inproportionate, and unidealized, emphasizes her station in life. She has lived a hard life, and her face shows it.The red brick wall behind her expresses the anger and torment shes haveing. It has to, because she must anticipate stoic for both her child and the world at large. She cant rage at the mining company, and she must not let her child see fear, so Shahn gives this wall the most brilliant, angry color he can muster to express what shes feeling.The wall is also a divider, separating the wives miserable, lonely existence from that of the mining bosses who calmly walk away. Having given her the news, they feel theyve done all that needs to be done for this woman. Their facelessness emphasizes the fact that these men are interchangeable in the minds of the women, all alike. They rob the women of eitherthing their husbands, their livelihoods, and their dignity.The three propagations in the room point out the nature of mining work as a family tradition. In fact, t he miners legacy hangs overhead, the coat all the same attached to its hook long after its owner is gone. The elders husband wasprobably a miner, the womans husband was a miner, and the presence of the child suggests that even the next generation will amount that path, despite the pain and injury all around. Such was often the encase with mining. Limited mobility and limited opportunity often forced one generation after the next into the mine, and many families died generation after generation, either in the mine or from the mine, with diseases like black lung.Shahn makes a bold logical argument about how much the mining industry cost for those who went down into the mines every day. His characters appear placid, but they speak volumes about the lifestyle endured by not just the miners, but also their families.