Looking at Norman Rockwell's Paintings

The three paintings all have one central theme which seems to be education. In The Spirit of Education the facial expression of the child looks as if he doesn't want to be there and the seated woman, who may be his mother, seems extremely happy. It seems like Rockwell is trying to say that children weren't eager to go to school back then which hasn't changed for many children these days.

With the newspaper backing in The Graduate it looks as though Rockwell is trying to show how after graduation there isn't much else one can do with "Officials to Seek Help for Job Woes" behind him. The boy also has a odd look on his face, a sort of confused look.

The Problem We All Live With has a very strong meaning to it with the "N" word written and the tomatoe splattered on the wall as a young black girl is being accompanied to school.

5. What is the setting of The Problem We All Live With? What event does it commemorate? How do you interpret the painting's title?

The setting seems to be a sidewalk in a place where people were against black children going to school with white children and it must be commemorating Brown vs Board of Education because that was around when the painting. The way i interpret the title is that there are two different kinds of problem's going on which is why it's The Problem We All Live With rather than The Problem She Lives With because not only was it hard for her to live with the fact that people were calling her names and throwing food at her for wanting to go to school but it was also the people problem who were doing those horrible acts.