Question

A war veteran sleeps on the sidewalk as his wife sits wrapped in blankets in Washington D.C. during the Great Depression.
Discuss the message of the photograph as a whole. Be sure to explain what the photographer wants to persuade the audience of.

Answer 1

The photograph’s central message is a moral indictment: those who served their country have been abandoned by it. By showing a war veteran sleeping on a public sidewalk while his wife huddles wrapped in blankets in Washington, D.C., during the Great Depression, the image forces viewers to reconcile the ideal of patriotic service with the reality of governmental neglect and widespread suffering.

How the photographer persuades the audience:

- Subject choice and setting: Placing a veteran and his wife in front of the nation’s seat of power — the streets of Washington, D.C. — creates an implicit contrast between public rhetoric about service/patriotism and the government’s failure to provide for its own citizens. The sidewalk and the public, outdoor location signal homelessness and exposure.

- Humanizing details: The sleeping posture of the veteran evokes exhaustion, vulnerability and dignity stripped away; the wife’s bundled blankets emphasize cold, fragility and maternal care. These intimate, humane details invite sympathy and make the situation emotionally immediate rather than abstract.

- Juxtaposition and irony: The image juxtaposes military service (implied by “war veteran”) with destitution. That irony is a powerful persuasive device — it makes the viewer feel the injustice and ask how veterans could be left in such a state.

- Composition and framing: A close, focused composition on the couple (rather than a broad crowd shot) personalizes the crisis, turning economic statistics into a single recognizable family. Tight framing forces emotional engagement; there is no distance or distraction.

- Mood and tone: The quiet, pitiable scene — sleeping, wrapped in blankets, exposed to the elements — produces pathos. The photograph’s tone encourages moral outrage and compassion rather than abstract discussion.

- Historical context as rhetorical force: Taken during the Great Depression (and likely amid the Bonus Army/bonus march era), the photo leverages contemporary political debates about veterans’ bonuses, relief programs and governmental responsibility. The image’s presence in the capital amplifies its political urgency.

Overall persuasive aim:
The photographer wants the audience to feel empathy for the veteran and his family and to be morally outraged at the social and political conditions that allow such neglect. Implicitly, the image calls for relief, reform, or at least a reassessment of public priorities: a nation that honors soldiers in word must not abandon them in deed.