William Gropper

 This painting by William Gropper to me means that the people in the sweatshop have lost their individuality they are like unhappy robots because they get no say in anything they do. They are not their own person and are doing what they are told. Everyone’s body movement looks similar. No one looks happy. How anyone can be happy if they can’t have no say in anything and can’t give their own input at work? They can’t express how they feel about the product they produce and feel proud of their hard work. Everyone’s end product is the same.  By the painting you can tell that they have been working for a long time because of the way the slouching and the area around their eyes are really dark. You can tell they haven’t got a lot of sleep. Another thing I noticed in the painting is that you can’t really see any of the people who are sewing faces. Their work conditions do not look that great. It also looks like they don’t have a bathroom and the room is just set up, so there is enough room for each station. While a man is sewing there is another women knitting. You can tell this owner is working their employees. The painting is also done in black and white which give the cold and lonely affect. Overall, I believe that William Gropper did a great job with this painting and made it easy to feel how horrible working at a sweat shop felt and how people lost their identity and who they are.