The painting is a study of the journey from infancy, to youth and to old age.Arnold, Bruce. "Walter Osborne". Bonhams. Retrieved 14 May 2017 The artist's seems to unsentimentally empathise with the plight of the working class subjects, and the painting is filled with poignant unease and tension. The art critic Brian Fallon wrote that "Osborne's humanity and powers of sympathy are plain in his pictures of the poor".Fallon, Brian. Irish Art 1830-1990. Appletree Press, 1998. 71. The painting is unusually cropped, with the excess space to the left of the bout; while the old man to at the right is almost cut out. This may reflect the painting's preoccupation with ageing and time, the boy has an abundance, the old man has little.
