Nighthawks Analysis

Question

I have to analyze a painting for my English class and I chose Nighthawks.

I came up with some general ideas and I was wondering if there was anything I missed out or if you think anything I wrote is wrong/doesn't make sense.

Here are my points:
- There is no door that enables one to exit the diner (only one that leads to the kitchen), hence it conveys the idea of isolation or entrapment
- Seems to be in the middle of a city or town at the very least yet there are no people on the streets - isolation
- Very few people in the diner yet there doesn't seem to be any discussion or interaction between them based on their body language - isolation
- One man is sitting by himself with his back away from us - isolation and enigmacy (dressed fully in black as well (color connotations))
- The dull yellow color of the diner can also represent decay or sickness, which seems some what appropriate given the matching expressions, or lack of, on the faces of the characters
- The darker colors show enigmacy, mystery and fear.. furthermore given the old setting and the date when the painting was created (1942), in the midst of World War II, the darker colors can also represent death (this point could be linked to the isolation etc.)

Thanks a lot!

KrisBlueNZ · Accepted Answer

These are just suggestions.

AnonymousThere is no door that enables one to exit the diner (only one that leads to the kitchen), hence it conveys the idea of isolation or entrapment

"There is no door that would enable [any]one to ..." "... to the kitchen), WHICH conveys AN IMPRESSION (or A FEELING) of isolation or entrapment"

AnonymousSeems to be in the middle of a city or town at the very least yet there are no people on the streets - isolation

Good, but the sentence ending with "- isolation" looks untidy, I'd say "... on the streets, GIVING (or again CONVEYING) an IMPRESSION (look up synonyms) OF isolation." You fixed this for the first bullet point; you need to tidy up the others as well.

AnonymousVery few people in the diner yet there doesn't seem to be any discussion or interaction between them based on their body language - isolation

"Very few people in the diner" is missing its verb! You have to say "THERE ARE very few people in the diner", or "Few people ARE in the diner" (I removed VERY, it doesn't often sound good at the start of a sentence.) Omitting THERE ARE is common in speech and casual writing, but I assume this is formal writing.

AnonymousOne man is sitting by himself with his back away from us - isolation and enigmacy (dressed fully in black as well (color connotations))

I've never heard of "enigmacy" and it gets no hits on dictionary.com. Normally I would try replacing -cy with -ness, but enigmaticness doesn't sound very convincing! How about just changing the tense and saying "[He seems] IsolatED and enigmaTIC".

AnonymousThe dull yellow color of the diner can also represent decay or sickness, which seems some what appropriate given the matching expressions, or lack of, on the faces of the characters

In DULL YELLOW COLOR I think COLOR is redundant and better removed

CAN ALSO REPRESENT --> ALSO REPRESENTS

SOME WHAT --> SOMEWHAT

OR LACK OF --> OR LACK THEREOF (stylistic decision)

AnonymousThe darker colors show enigmacy, mystery and fear..

ENIGMACY again... Maybe look up synonyms for ENIGMA and find a better word?

... show uncertainty and mystery, and INSPIRE fear.

Is that sentence supposed to end with a period or an ellipsis? If it's a period, the F on FURTHERMORE should be a capital.

Anonymous... furthermore given the old setting and the date when the painting was created (1942), in the midst of World War II, the darker colors can also represent death

GIVEN, used in this way, might be considered somewhat informal. Maybe use CONSIDERING or something else.

THE DATE WHEN THE PAINTING WAS CREATED can be replaced with THE PAINTING'S DATE. There is only normally ONE date associated with a painting, and that's the date on which it was painted, so you don't need to be so specific in my opinion.

Your closing parenthesis is in the wrong place. This is an easy mistake to make. The parenthetical part of the sentence is "1942, in the midst of World War II" so the closing parenthesis should be after World War II. Another way to put it: imagine removing the parenthetical expression. If you just remove "(1942)," the sentence doesn't say what I think you want it to say. I hope you understand!

Your article is generally well written, and interesting to criticise.

KrisBlueNZ

Anonymous · Answer

Questions to ask yourself...Just my observations. I wish I would have paid more attention to this in school becaus it is such a wonderful piece of art and is much darker than at first glance.

1) With 3 of the four people you can not see at least one of their hands. This seems intentional.

2) Are there only 4 people? Extremely creepy but look at the storefront across the street opposite of cash register(you may have to zoom in) but there seems to be a vague figure in a doorway in a suit. This was done intentionally. Just a mannequin?

3) Why is the cash register painted to prominent in storefront?

3) The busboy seems very alert or frightened about something?

4) No front door. Hooper said this was unintentional but may have been subconscious.

I may be going off the deep end but it seems like they are in some sort of purgatory. Like the beginning of some Stephen King short story. There is a very insidious undertone to the whole piece. Well enjoy!

Email Removed">Email Removed would love to know what you think.

Nighthawks Analysis

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