Powerful images are able to appeal to and move a large group of people. “Flower Child” does just that. The picture shows a seemingly infinite number of soldiers with clean uniforms getting ready to go off to war. A woman is comfortably approaching one of the soldiers and

reaching out with both of her hands to offer him a flower. At first glance, it may seem like the woman is reaching out to make a peace offering with the soldier. However, I argue that the woman is reaching out to cherish the peace she is experiencing instead of trying to spread peace. The woman realizes that war is sometimes needed to create peace. 

It is clear that the line of soldiers is heading to war because their uniforms and weapons are clean. The dagger fastened to the end of the guns shows that the soldiers are gearing up for a gruesome battle that may involve hand to hand combat. The woman reaches out with both of her hands to offer the flower with both of her hands. Instead of holding the flower with two hands to cherish the flower, she only holds the flower with one hand. If she thought of the flower as something precious, she might have held it with both hands. As she reaches out, the soldier's dagger comes between her hands. The placement of her hands on either side of the dagger represents her understanding that the war is inevitable. In one hand she holds a flower, symbolic of peace. In the other hand, she holds nothing. Her hand is open with her palm facing up, symbolic of emptiness and no attachment. The dagger that separates her hands represents what stands between peace and . The dagger represents war. By positioning her hands in this way, it shows that the woman knows that there is no perfect world and fighting is an evil necessary.

The woman’s effort to cherish the peace is further shown by the type of flower she offers the soldier. The woman chose to offer a dandelion, which is a fragile flower that will separate even after a slight breeze. The flower is not sturdy and strong. This shows that the woman realizes that although there is peace now, it will soon be gone just like the dandelion. As the dandelion blows away, its seeds fly off of the stem. The seeds represent the spread of peace as a result of the fighting. The flower she offers the soldier is symbolic of the peace they are experiencing at that moment. The disappearance of their peace will result in more peace for

others. The dandelion’s seeds spread very easily after they have been removed from the stem. The stem is sturdy and does not blow away. The stem represents the beginning of the spread. Once there has been some kind of disruption, the seeds easily flow. This concept represents that once there has been the initial cause, the spread easily follows. Once the fighting has ended, it will be easy for peace to find its way to a new territory.

Although I have argued that the dandelion represents that the woman believes war is necessary to achieve piece, a valid counterargument may be that the dandelion represents the spread of peace without having to suffer through war. If the flower represented the peaceful spread of peace, the dandelion would not end up baron of seeds. Instead, the flower becomes empty with no sprouts available. If the woman believed that peace could come without war, a different stronger flower could have been used in her exchange. The flower is left empty, like her hand which shows the consistency in the woman’s belief that in order to have peace, fighting may need to take place.

At first glance, the woman may appear to make a peace offering. Upon further analysis, it becomes clear that the woman offered her understanding. She is the only one approaching the line of soldiers, which shows how comfortable she is with making her offering. The soldiers face is not shown which shows that the woman may not even know what the war is about, yet is still hopeful that peace can prevail. The woman reaches out to show that she understands how the war may need to take place to change the big picture. She wants peace for the people, but understands the reality of how it needs to happen. This picture is able to speak and touch many around the world who find themselves in times of conflict.