Freedom of Speech

Norman Rockwell Freedom of Speech
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I absolutely love Norman Rockwell. To me, his pictures represent “American-ness”. This painting entitled Freedom of Speech was inspired by FDR’s State of the Union address in 1941. Norman Rockwell’s audience was the American population in 1941, when the U.S. was unofficially involved in World War II. This picture is part of a set of images that represent the four freedoms FDR outlined in his speech, including the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear. These images show what is important to America and what makes our nation unique. When this image is juxtaposed with the world events of this time (namely, Hitler and his atrocities in Germany), it becomes even more meaningful. This image is powerful to me because it shows an ordinary scene, just a man in a town council meeting speaking his mind. All of the people pictured are regular citizens, listening to what one of their fellow citizens has to say. It reminds us of the power that “we the people” can have in our world. Freedom of Speech also reminds me that this freedom is not something to take for granted, especially when you consider how different our freedoms are from others around the world. People in other countries cannot speak their mind as freely as we do and we should be grateful for the opportunity that we have to voice our opinions.