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"I am Starving" Three figures dominate this evening composition. A drawing, evidence of hatching and cross-hatching define the strong patterns of light. A young girl sits in the center of the composition. Her head is raised and her eyes appear to be staring. Her right hand rests on an opened book in her lap, while the left is opened with the palm facing up. A small dog sniffs about at the flowers near her feet. A group of birds is barely visible in the shadows to the right. A young boy on the right wears a placard that reads; “I am starving.” A rat crawls on his head and he moves his right hand close to it. Holding a box, he cradles an owl in his left arm. His pants are torn, and his feet are bare. A figure to his left catches his attention. The same height, the other figure holds out his hand and reveals a coin. At left, a woman, dressed in a shawl and feathered hat, stands and leans on the wall above the sitting girl. She looks out to the lights along the river, while her companion (on the far left) looks away from her as if speaking to someone else. The lights, and their reflections on the river, emphasize the darkness of the evening. Background This image relates the fate of some poverty stricken children that attempt to attract sympathy and money from passers-by. Evoking more sympathy from the visual audience, the scene is set at night, and near a river. Henry Mayhew, in London Labour and the London Poor (1849) described a world of street characters that included beggars, scavengers, and criminals who lived in horrible conditions. Mayhew also related how children gathered bird, bird nests and flowers from the country and brought them into the city to sell. Mayhew created an awareness of the horrid conditions of the poor, and this later became subject matter for visual artists. The young girl’s blindness is indicated by a cast light on her face and wide open eyes. Attempting to sell the flowers and young birds, her hand is open to accept offerings. The young boy next to her will feed the rat to the owl, but only for money – as indicated by the coin being presented to him. His crudely written placard arouses additional sympathy. The woman on the left looks longingly at the peaceful evening river. Her well-dressed companion does not pay attention to her, emphasizes her own loneliness. This isolation reinforces the children’s isolation, plight, and poverty. The little birds, with their opened mouths and placed on the ground, also reflect the children’s hunger. Their heads point to the young girl and unify their similar state. Do ye hear the children weeping, oh my brothers,
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