Miners’ Wives by Ben Shahn Essay

The Miners Wives by Ben Shahn takes a bitter bear at one of the lifestyles of the early 20th century that of the down-trodden coal mineworker.In the foreground of the picture, we see the miners wife referenced in the title. She carries a bleak pull oution, her back turned to an older charr and a barbarian, presumably her mother and her offspring. Two men walk away into the distance, and one set of change state hangs above, unclaimed by its owner. The fair sex has just been informed of the dig accident which claimed her husbands life.Shahn says some(prenominal) about the mining life through the composition of his painting. His focus is on the woman who has just mixed-up her husband. She stands off-center, not crying or hysterical, but with an expression of shock and numbness. This isnt the first time shes experienced this kind of pain. The presence of her mother suggests that she has lost a loved one before, presumably her father. nevertheless the method he uses to paint h er, distorted, inproportionate, and unidealized, emphasizes her station in life. She has lived a hard life, and her face shows it.The red brick hem in behind her expresses the anger and torment shes feeling. It has to, because she must remain stoic for both her child and the realness 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 tending(p) 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 symmetric in the minds of the women, all alike. They rob the women of everything their husbands, their livelihoods, and their dignity.The three generations in the room point out the nature of mining work as a family tradition. In fact, the miners legacy hangs overhead, the coat still link up 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 survey that path, despite the pain and injury all around. Such was often the case with mining. Limited mobility and limited fortune often forced one generation after the next into the mine, and many families died generation after generation, any in the mine or from the mine, with diseases like black lung.Shahn makes a bold statement about how more than 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.