How a Glorified Vision of an Ideal Family Has Been Exploited Time Term Paper

How a Glorified Vision of an Ideal Family Has Been Exploited Time - Term Paper Example Names and photographs, if possible, arranged in the shape of a tree with branches, signify nature of relationship i.e. genetic or through marriage. Family histories more often recorded in family bibles, help trace relations that may have drifted off and revived them for sentimental and occasionally practical reasons. For instance, in case of proving an inheritance, these family trees are useful in establishing and tracking down relations that may have been lost in the sands of time. At one level, family though may mean a group of individuals bound together by the genetic makeup, at another level, it also stands for national identity. The family tree, an illustration by Norman Rockwell, symbolizes the concept of an American family at a national level. His illustration for the 1959 October edition of Saturday Evening Post cover shows a family tree filled with an array of faces, illustrating the eventful phases of history. The family tree comprising Yankees, Yeomen, Buccaneers, Confederates, Spanish beauties, Puritans and Aristocrats showcases America as a melting pot of cultures. Instead of depicting pilgrims at Plymouth rock as the beginning of American history, Rockwell preferred to illustrate pirates looting European ships carrying treasures, shown by ships from both ends and the coming together of pirates and European aristocrats through marriage (at the base of the family tree). Rockwell chose to depict the Civil War through union and confederate soldiers portraying how diverse elements went into the forming of a new entity instead of using slaves to do so. The presence of mountain man and a tribal woman goes to show how various cultures and tribes were amalgamated into the history eventually giving rise to a broad and a tolerant outlook encasing the 'spirit of America'. However, it is debatable to judge the illustration as a representation of the American entity since it is marked by the absence of Mexican and Asian faces.