Original: '' Fineman , Mia , The Most Famous Farm Couple in the World : Why American Gothic still fascinates/O. , Slate , 8 June 2005 The painting shows a farmer standing beside his spinster daughter ( not his wife , as so many parodies and references assume ) .
Simplified: The painting is a father and daughter ( not his wife as many people think ) standing beside each other with the father holding a pitchfork in his hand standing in front of a house .