"Young Life" by Bo Bartlett

1. The man likes to hunt: he has a gun.
2. The man and woman are in love: They're hugging.
3. The boy hates his parents: He's standing away from his parents.

From the painting 'Young Life', we can make several assumptions about the lives of those in the picture. Obviously, the boy and the man and woman don't have a great relationship. The artist portrayed this by placing the boy even further away from his parents. The space between them shows how he wants to be away from them, physically and emotionally. Also, the boy in the painting is holding a stick as if it were a gun. Even though the boy can't and won't shoot his parents, the unconscious thoughts of his holding a 'gun' represent his hatred toward his parents and how defensive he has to feel when he's around them. Bartlett made these choices to show the weak relationship of the son and parents, referring to maybe a bad childhood of his own.