Rockwell's "The Runaway"

         Rockwell's painting of "The Runaway" depicts a young boy sitting at the counter (of what looks like an old fashioned cafe) with an officer. The painting gives the feeling that American lives are stagnant and everyday culture is the same. Because of the time period, the painting emphasized just how much change was in society. It shadows America's counter culture by providing a memory of culture before, almost wishing to go back to the days where nobody spoke of reform and thoughts were simple. However, we know that this was not the case, and therefore, Rockwell's "The Runaway" overlooks the fundamental rift that was rising in America throughout the 1950's - an emerging counter culture that was not concerned with how things were in America but rather how things are.