Belonging

The name of the text is nighthawks. It is a painting by Edward Hopper. This Image depicts belonging because the people in the lit up cafe, are shut off/excluded from the night. The three customers and the bar-man belong together since they are all in the lighted cafe at the dead of night, for an unknown reason. A café is a place where people usually go to, to socially interact. A lack of belonging or isolation is shown because the people in the scene seem isolated from each other, as well as from the outside world. There is no direct communication taking place between the couple inside their glass cage. There are many things that show alienation, the group of people are sitting inside a glass box (the café’s window), which is sealing of the people from the city. Being part of a group or community is a part of belonging and this picture is not showing that.There is a theme of Isolation, the picture shows a couple and then there is a guy by himself. The lone individual may not feel like he belongs. Another technique which shows a lack of belonging is the silence of the outside world, nothing is happening outside the café, it’s just a dark city, the darkness gives a sign of exclusion. The customers all give an impression of being cut off from each other, the woman would rather examine a cigarette rather than talk to the man sitting next to her. The only conversation happening in this picture would probably be business related.