A picture of a mother and her three children became one of the most recognizable photos in history. It came out of the Great Depression. In the black and white picture, a woman sits holding her infant, while resting her head in her right hand, with hopelessness displayed on her face. She has two older children leaning on her, their back facing the camera. Dorothea Lange, the photographer, worked for the federal government. Her assignment was to take photographs of rural poverty and capture the effects of it in her photographs. Migrant Mother did that. It was later discovered that the mother in the image is Florence Thompson, who died in 1983. The Migrant Mother image sparks numerous saddening feelings and dreary thoughts inside people due to the emotional appeal, the symbolism, the motif, and the composition, proving that the Migrant Mother image is an important image that leaves an impression on all its viewers.
To begin with, the Migrant Mother image is so iconic because of the emotional appeal it holds. The photograph makes viewers have feelings of gloom and despair due to how the mother and children look. Those feelings are caused by the emptiness look in the mother’s eyes, which represent the hope that has been lost. The wrinkles in her forehead and her furrowed eyebrows show the stress and struggle she is under to care for her children and herself. The wrinkles also show that she is helpless. She needs help to care for her family. They need a home, not a tent. They need food and water. Lange recalls taking the picture and remembers hearing the mother say “…they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed” (568). The mother realizes that her children and her need proper food and a proper home, but knows she cannot provide those things, as many other Americans could not. In the image, you can see the clothing worn by the mother and her kids is dirty and falling apart. Carole Henry puts emphasis on the clothing as she describes the mother: “…wearing a rough textured garment; its sleeves are frayed” (27). The distressed sleeves confirm the struggle of the mother. The sweater worn by the mother might be the only thing she has to wear. The dirt on the shoulders of the sweater prove that the family does not have the luxury of clean clothes. The Great Depression took that luxury away from them, as it did to other families across the country. Henry also points out the children’s state. Beginning with the infant, Henry states “The infant’s face is dirty, and its overly large jacket is soiled” (27). The dirt on the infant’s cheeks and near the mouth demonstrates they cannot even clean themselves, a luxury that the Great Depression also took away. The jacket the infant is wearing looks more like a blanket due to the size; however, the jacket was probably handed down from one of the older children, possibly one leaning on the mother. Henry continues describing the children, but now the older ones that are leaning each side of the mother, “The two older children also are wearing rough, soiled clothing. Their hair is uncombed” (27). The uncombed hair of the children verifies, once again, that they do not have access to proper hygienic needs. The mothers distressed look on her face and her dirty, distressed clothes cause the viewers to feel heavy-hearted, along with the children’s dirty clothes and the unkempt appearance of them. Emotional appeal is one of the most powerful rhetorical devices because the feelings that come while viewing the image do not leave. The image stays in your mind.
Secondly, symbolism is another reason as to why the Migrant Mother image is so iconic. The image symbolizes most of the mothers during the Great Depression. They felt discouraged because they could not care for their kids. Michael Austin says that she was a “mother of seven at age thirty-two” (568), which is how many families were. There were numerous big families during the beginning of the twentieth century. That caused more struggle for them because there were more mouths to feed. Henry states that the mother was “Aged both by weather and misfortune, she is a victim of intense poverty” (38). Majority of Americans were like that during the Great Depression. Almost everyone suffered from poverty. This image displayed her level of suffering, which is why it symbolizes the Americans during the Great Depression. James C. Curtis agrees because he states “After its publication in 1936, Migrant Mother became a timeless and universal symbol of suffering in the face of adversity” (1). However, the symbolism of the picture goes deeper than that. The tent the mother and her children was staying in represents the country. It represents how unstable the country is. The country had fallen apart, just as easy as their home could. There are numerous instances of symbolism in this image which contributes as to why it is so representative of that time.
Next, the Migrant Mother image is so historic because of the motif. The theme of this image is battling the Great Depression. Everything in the image displays the struggle they are enduring. They are fighting against the lack of shelter, water, food, and cleanliness, things that were taken away due to the Great Depression. Their tattered clothes show that, along with the dirt on their bodies, and the worrisome look plastered on the mother’s face. Austin says Lange’s mission was to document “…the effects of poverty on sharecroppers, homesteaders, migrant farmers, and other rural victims of the Great Depression” (568). Migrant Mother did that because the image shows the fight against poverty is a difficult fight. The effects of the Great Depression are displayed across the whole photograph; therefore, that is why this picture is so iconic.
The composition of the photo contributes to the importance of it as well. There isn’t much negative space in the photo because it’s focused on the mother and the two older children fill up most of the space by leaning on her. The photo could have been taken as a landscape style too, but it was not. It was taken as a portrait style to include all three children near the mother. The picture is black and white due to the time. However, if it would have been in color, the uncleanliness would have been more noticeable. In the foreground of the picture, viewers can see what is holding the tent up. If Lange would have been further away, the tent probably would have been more prominent; although, the detail in the mother’s face could have been compromised. The composition of the photo is what makes this picture so historic.
Therefore, Migrant Mother is such an important photograph because of the emotional appeal, the symbolism, the motif, and the composition. In the image, the mother displays strength for her children, but also struggle due to the Great Depression. As Carole Henry says, “It is this sense of dignity and strength despite immense physical suffering combined with artistic excellence that makes this image so powerful” (39).