Political Cartoon Analysis

Posted Wednesday, November 18, 2009 by Adil

As shown in the caption, this cartoon was created and posted in November of 2009. The significance of this is that it is the year after the election of Obama as President of the United States. The illustrator of this cartoon is an artist with her own blog. In her posting of this cartoon, she explains how political cartoons are "tools of democracy" and goes on to talk about the styles of political cartoons and effects that they have. This is very interesting to me because she gives away the secret of political cartoons which is something that people easily forget about as they view such rhetorical pieces of art. Because the audience is those involved in the recession, a big chunk of our country's population, the revelation to that secret plays no significance because so many can relate to the issue of "RECESSION." 

A sinking ship is the perfect metaphor that relates to our sinking economy caused by the recession. In this specific political cartoon, it is suggested that the cause of our recession is the various government leaders who only care about their own ideas. They are all caught up in being the "Captain" who is in charge. Some of the characters in this cartoon include Kucinich, H. Clinton, Obama, Romney, and G. W. Bush. These are all political figures who ran/are running for President, America's captaincy. Because the famous political figures are the only ones on the sinking ship, the illustrator reveals that their aggressiveness in becoming "Captain" is hurting themselves as well as the American people. The illustrator of this piece is a political cartoon artist who has many of these posted and obviously knows what she is doing and talking about. This is where ethos are established. Because people are so quick to blame others, the selfish government leaders accused of being the cause of our recession is a very logical idea to be supported by viewers (logos). To top off the rhetorical triangle, the pathos come into play through the emotional appeal of the viewers whose lives are deeply affected by this recession. 

I believe that this cartoon is very effective for readers. The recession is a rough subject for many Americans, and placing blame on the government is very common for people to do because of their frustration. With the techniques, styles, and creativeness; I believe that this political cartoon would serve as very persuasive in causing one to place the blame solely on the government.

Original Blog of Political Cartoon