Rockwell's " The Runaway" Intro

Ever since World Wars and any major events before the 195o's, people have focused on the past. The past was on everyone's mind, and humans were just reflecting. Starting in the 1950's, however, a counter culture emerged. Soldiers came home, got jobs, moved to the suburbs, and had kids. Everyone became much more concerned with the present. In this painting, the police officer, worker, and child look content. This little boy is a stowaway, but the people in the restaurant seem okay with it. This shows that America is changing, and just having lunch, nothing else. Rockwell's " The Runaway" overlooks the fundamental rift that was rising in America throughout the 1950s-an emerging counter culture that was not concerned with how things were in America but rather how they are.