This particular painting utilizes perspective and space to make an argument about the nature of the social hierarchy. The couple who occupies the left field of the composition serve as a legible representation of the upper middle class: The man wears a top hat, and both individuals wear expensive, fashionable black clothing. They obviously have deep pockets, so to speak. On the other hand, the man they have just passed on the sidewalk strolls by in denim and a humbler hat, without any semblance of the dignified posture with which the middle class man carries himself. Also noteworthy is the reappearing conflation of man and animal; the dog in the foreground walks in the same direction as the man, attributing an animal quality to his situation once
This particular painting utilizes perspective and space to make an argument about the nature of the social hierarchy. The couple who occupies the left field of the composition serve as a legible representation of the upper middle class: The man wears a top hat, and both individuals wear expensive, fashionable black clothing. They obviously have deep pockets, so to speak. On the other hand, the man they have just passed on the sidewalk strolls by in denim and a humbler hat, without any semblance of the dignified posture with which the middle class man carries himself. Also noteworthy is the reappearing conflation of man and animal; the dog in the foreground walks in the same direction as the man, attributing an animal quality to his situation once