Abraham Rattner's 'Parade'

Within a painting, the watercolors and discrete stroke of the brush gives each element a diverse connotation. “Parade” by Abraham Rattner, painted in 1969, illustrates the protests of the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. This artwork exhibits the warm colors on the crowd and the fiery blazes shaded across the skies, emphasizing the widespread conflicts the nation fostered against this horrendous battle. The crowd in the foreground expresses human emotions and their diversity assembled to protest. Fists and signs escalate towards the scarlet sky along with the earth gradually burning to ash. People desired nothing but the need for peace and humanity lost along with the deaths of those who sacrificed their lives fighting. Without realization, their own self-interests captivate their prospects and contradict their own beliefs. Undoubtedly, we protest in hope to bring peace, but sometimes those who try to bring hope to a nation are the ones who bring the most destruction. …show more content…
A child clenches onto their mother with its innocence captured upon its expressionless face as the chaos of humanity deteriorates. It gazes at the world around us, seeing the destruction civilization partakes. As the child grows, the devastation continues as they shadow their parents lead in these eventful protests of rivalry and hatred. The child exemplifies the innocence and mortality evolution abandoned. The mother reveals determination in her appearance, showing us her willingness to assist in this battle to eradicate the war. Remarkably, women were often seen protesting at anti-war movements as well as peace rallies. Simone de Beauvoir communicates her secure opinion that “women should desire peace as human beings, not as women” (Laville 2002, p. 125). Countless women who protest break the traditional womanhood rule by leaving their homes to participate in these movements, demonstrating their own rights as