Artists often create illustrations depicting a concept or idea that they have a strong perception or opinion about. This idea gives illustrations life and purpose. Symbols within images convey the scheme the artist is portraying. Edward Hooper represents the urban culture of the United States of America during the 1940s in his painting “Nighthawks.” The painting illustrates the contrast between the light and dark inside and outside of a diner based in New York City. Edward Hooper’s illustrations often convey a difference between inside and out with the use of glass windows. Hooper uses this same concept to typify American culture. 

Initially, the viewer is likely to notice the contrast between the inside and outside of the diner. The outside is dark and empty. There are neither people nor cars on the streets; the street is almost completely lifeless and empty. I argue Edward Hooper is conveying the culture of urban America during the late 1930s and 1940s. Large cities are often associated with loneliness and detachment from one another. There are thousands of people crammed into a tight space yet nearly everybody is a stranger to one another. Hopper illustrates this loneliness in his painting “Knighthawks” with the empty darkness outside. On the contrary, the inside of the diner is full of light. The light pours out onto the streets outside. Hope is represented by the light within the diner as it spills out onto the streets. The diner serves as a refuge for people in the city. It is an escape from the dark lonely world that lies outside the large glass windows. Everything outside of the diner is dark with dim colors. The hardships of the persons—in the bar—everyday lives linger over them through the glass windows represented by the outside darkness. They are temporarily escaping these issues by being at the diner, however, they can see their own stresses and loneliness just outside the window. Complete strangers can come together and escape their problems in the diner. However, the people continue to endure their hardships in their outside lives as the diner is only temporary. The next day a set of completely different people may appear in the diner. Hopper represents this detachment from person to person very well as expressed by the people sitting inside. 

It is clear that there are four people in the painting. Three of them are sitting or standing at the bar while one is working behind the bar. One man sits by himself on one side of the bar, and his face cannot be seen. He is turned away from the viewer. I argue Hopper did this to add a sense of mysteriousness to the man. Mysteriousness—and the fact that the man sits alone—contributes to the theme of loneliness in the piece of work. The man is sitting upright. It appears he is not looking at any of the other characters. Perhaps he is staring into nothing and is consumed in his own thoughts. He is also dressed in a suit. The suit contributes to the associated aspects of a city. Cities are associated with hard working people who work long difficult hours. Furthermore, the man likely worked a long day supported by his appearance of being dressed in a suit. It can also be observed that the man has a drink in front of him. I argue that the Hopper is depicting the man drinking alcohol after a long day at work, contributing to the idea that the diner serves as an escape from the outside world. Alcohol can help people temporarily forget about their issues. The late 1930s and early 1940s marked the period of America escaping the Great Depression. Hopper’s painting evokes the emotions of this time, in particular with the man sitting alone.  

There are two other characters—a man and a woman—in the painting whom are acting very similar to the man sitting alone. Both of them are slouched over the bar countertop and the women has what appears to be a cigarette in her hand. It is unknown if the two have a relation to one another. The woman is wearing bright colored clothing while the man is wearing a dark blue suit. I argue that Hopper is using the two to represent how men and women interacted during the paintings creation. Women did not often work during this time period, however, men almost always did. Both men are wearing suits, implying they were working at some point in the day, possibly as businessmen. Only one other man is in the painting, the bartender—who is also working. Women added a strong sense of purpose to men’s lives. Hopper drew the woman in the image based off of his wife. Therefore, I argue he is conveying the idea that women add purpose to a man’s life. He depicts this through his representation of the woman in the painting—dressed in bright colors. The bright colors, which are the brightest in the image, represent how women brighten men’s days up. Serving as another sense of escape, the women helps the men forget about their problems while they are distracted by her beauty.

All of the characters in the image have vague faces. None of them are communicating to one another. It can also be seen that they all appear to be looking at nothing, perhaps suggesting they are all lost in their own thoughts or contemplating issues inside their minds. Lifelessness and plainness resides over all the characters’ faces. Their detachment from one another, although they are in the same room, suggests space means nothing in a city. Urban culture often entails this kind of attitude. Most people in big cities are strangers to each other. One can be surrounded by thousands of people and still be lonely due a lacking of relationship with others. Hopper illustrated this attitude with the faces of the people in the image. Chances are, the people do not know one another. This contributes to the theme of detachment and loneliness. Each person has their own struggles, however, they are all similar in that they are enduring these struggles—as seen by the three men who are all workers. Illuminated by the character’s blankness, each person appears to have their own problems but keeps to themselves.

One source of light exists in the whole image, the inside of the diner. This light disappears into the darkness outside through the windows. In the background, completely lightless, appears to be apartments and stores. The rooms are all dark and empty as far as one can see. There is no life outside of the diner. Moreover, this contributes to the lifelessness and loneliness in the city outside of the diner. Implying cheapness, the signage on the diner reads “PHILLIES” and to the left of that reads “Only 5 cents.”. The Cheapness conveys the struggle and meaning of the people being inside. People were scraping by paycheck to paycheck and therefore were attempting to lower costs. People were desperate to save money and earn as much as possible. Hence the low-cost diner and workers inside.

“Nighthawks” by Edward Hopper symbolizes the urban culture during the late 1930s and 1940s. Hopper uses the light inside the diner to represent an escape from the outside darkness. The outside conveys the loneliness and struggles of people living in a big city. All of the people in the image have blank faces. These plain faces show the detachment they have from one another. Hopper created the image during the early 1940s, finishing it in 1942. This time period included preparation for war and the ending in the Great Depression. With these events, people’s lives included struggles, loneliness, and sufferings particularly in big cities. Hopper uses the diner to represent this temporary escape from the outside darkness of struggles and loneliness separated by a glass window. The people in the diner can see the lonely darkness outside.  However, they must accept it and move on with their daily lives. 
