Political cartoons communicate complex ideas concisely and often humorously. Like exchanges in presidential debates, they incorporate elements that can be appreciated by both intellectuals and popular audiences; however, cartoons have the capacity to be simultaneously clearer and deeper than debate moments. Leonardo da Vinci influenced this form of rhetoric by establishing the art form of caricature, and as a result political cartoons were used for propaganda and satire as far back every bit the Protestant Reformation.[i] Over the centuries, many political cartoons have become iconic and galvanized people into action by distilling a complex issue into a clear, if caricatured, epitome.

Philip Zec'south "Don't lose it once more!" and Robert Minor's "At concluding a perfect soldier!" are two such cartoons, produced during the second earth war and the offset earth state of war, respectively, that dribble complex messages about war and government to images that are substantially opposites. Zec's cartoon, published on VE Day in 1945, sends a message to British politicians and voters by celebrating the war machine's ability to clean upwards messes created by political failures. By comparison, Small-scale's political cartoon is a harsh satire that demonstrates his frustration with U.S. involvement in Earth State of war I, implying that no rational soldier would fight in the mindless war. The most obvious dissimilarity is that these socialists' reactions to war produced a depiction of a heroic, resolute soldier in ane example and a satire of a brainless soldier in the other. The more important distinction is that Zec's cartoon made meaningful appeals to and elicited favorable responses from both of its audiences, simply Minor'due south had limited appeal and served mainly to criticize and protestation rather than to meaningfully connect with multiple audiences.

zec-and-minor-1

Philip Zec was born in London to a Jewish father who had fled oppression in czarist Russia. Zec went to fine art schoolhouse and at historic period nineteen opened his own commercial art studio. He became politically engaged during Hitler's ascension and found a task at the Daily Mirror after the outbreak of World War 2, producing daily political cartoons that often targeted the Nazis.

He stirred up controversy in March of 1942 with a depiction of a seaman in the water after a submarine attack, captioned '"The cost of petrol has been increased by 1 penny" – Official.'

"The price of petrol has been increased by 1 penny." – Official

British Parliament interpreted the cartoon equally a treasonous set on on (profiteering) petrol companies, despite Zec's claim that it was merely a reminder to the British people to conserve resources during wartime. Parliament ordered an MI5 investigation of Zec and his newspaper, which revealed that they had generally good intentions and were simply of left-wing persuasion. In Parliament'south fence over shutting down the Daily Mirror, Zec'southward credibility played a big part in the decision to simply reprimand him and the newspaper.[ii]

Zec's contribution on VE day, May eightth, 1945, was received much more than positively by the British government. Every bit shown to a higher place, the drawing shows a wounded soldier offering Britain laurels symbolizing 'victory and peace in Europe' and is captioned "Here yous are! Don't lose it once more!". Given Zec's prior altercation with the British government, this is probable targeted at British politicians likewise as the British people. That is confirmed by an analysis of the phrases used in the drawing; the soldier's simple words speak volumes by relying on certain commonplaces and shared understandings.

The soldier's beginning phrase, "Here you are!", is informed by the idea of the armed forces making sacrifices on behalf of the people. This implies that the soldier is talking to the British people, because that is the group for whom the soldiers presumably fought to secure peace. The injured soldier'southward appearance and the humble disposition indicated by this phrase also create potent appeals to ethos and pathos. The soldier is fulfilling his duty by making personal sacrifices to return peace and victory to the people; this in turn creates certain responsibilities for the people, such every bit having compassion and respect for the soldier.

The most important responsibility this creates is defined in the second phrase, "Don't lose information technology again!" This is directed at the British political leaders who take the power to preserve peace in Europe. The inclusion of the discussion "again" hearkens back to the last fourth dimension Uk lost the peace and to the much maligned "appeasement doctrine" of Neville Chamberlain, a Conservative prime number minister, which gave Deutschland a head outset in Globe State of war Two and ultimately led to a longer and bloodier war.

Hence, the consummate audition of this cartoon is the British people, who should capeesh the soldiers' sacrifices for them, and the British political leaders, who should experience guilty for losing the peace prior to World War II and take responsibleness for keeping the peace in Europe following World State of war Two.

The Labour Political party responded to the cartoon much as Zec wanted, officially apologizing for their by questioning of his motives and asking permission to use the cartoon in the 1945 general election campaign.[iii] This political arrangement made sense because Zec held socialist views, which aligned more than closely with the Labour Political party than with the Conservative Party, and his cartoon implicitly criticized Chamberlain'southward prewar foreign policy. The people likewise responded positively to his message, delivering a landslide for Labour despite Winston Churchill'southward sky-high approval ratings.[iv]

Front page of the Daily Mirror on Election Day in Britain, 1945

Robert Small developed artistic and writing skills doing odd jobs for his hometown San Antonio Gazette, gaining interest in political cartoons. Past 1910 he had become the popular chief cartoonist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and one of the first American cartoonists to use grease crayon on newspaper, which produced a lithographic effect. Pocket-size had get a passionate socialist, but Joseph Pulitzer, who owned the Mail service-Dispatch, did non mind his stiff political statements. Small-scale left for the New York Earth in 1911 to become the highest paid cartoonist in the country, merely retained his passion and candor.

In 1916, Tom Mooney – a friend of Small-scale's – was framed for a bombing in San Francisco and sentenced to death (the sentence was eventually commuted).[5] Minor gave impassioned speeches, wrote manufactures for diverse publications, and drew a poignant political cartoon slamming those who framed Mooney.

hog the nose
Robert Minor cartoon pleading for readers to protest the fate of Tom Mooney; here, the men who framed him are looking on coldly while he waits with a noose around his neck.

Minor possessed a like passion with respect to World War I, expressing his stiff opposition through harshly anti-state of war cartoons. When the New York World'south editor asked him to alter his tone, Minor refused outright and began drawing cartoons for the radical magazine The Masses instead. He also traveled to the Western Front to write articles about the war for The Call.[6]

When Modest published "At last a perfect soldier!" subsequently the U.S. officially entered the war, he was stymied past an authorization college than the magazine publishing his piece of work. Both he and The Masses came nether burn down from the U.S. Government (figuratively), he for his cartoon and the journal for several contributors' antiwar articles and cartoons. Minor'due south cartoon was received poorly by the regime because he directed its anti-state of war message mainly at a agreeing audience; the government did non translate the cartoon through the intended ideology and did not deem Minor a civically credible rhetor.

As a radical socialist (who would later become a communist), Minor thought the workers of the world should come together rather than fighting each other in a rich men'southward state of war.[7] This cartoon captures his frustration with workers acting against their ain interests, arguing that the "perfect soldier" is a man with all the physical attributes to fight but none of the mental faculties to question the purpose of fighting.

Pocket-size had lost much of his mainstream audience after leaving the New York Globe, but this cartoon was controversial and iconic enough to reach that audience one time more. All the same, to many in this wider audience, the cartoon seems to be attacking the country's servicemen and comes across as unpatriotic and crass. This is due to the difficulty of expressing frustration with those who act against their cocky-interest: on one hand, they are essentially respectable and honorable people, simply on the other, they are acting in a way that Minor perceives to brand them and others like them worse off. This drawing assumes that the audience is somewhat familiar with this line of reasoning and expresses the latter emotion, the frustration, without demonstrating the respect Minor has for the soldiers. The mainstream audience would not understand this, and the government, recognizing that, saw the cartoon as harmful to morale.

In the case of Philip Zec's controversial petrol cartoon, British Parliament ultimately decided that Zec was fundamentally good (Zec was on Hitler's "black list" for mocking the Nazis) and allow him off on a alert, having ended that the petrol cartoon was merely an aberration. However, Robert Modest had a history of radicalism and was known for expressing his own strong opinions rather than promoting patriotic letters. The government understood this cartoon to be part of a larger trend in Minor'due south work and accounted his rhetoric harmful to the country and to the war endeavor.

Shortly after the cartoon was published, the government charged The Masses with violating the Espionage Act of 1917 by undermining the war effort, and Small-scale and several other writers and cartoonists were put on trial. Though they were never convicted (both trials resulted in a hung jury), The Masses ceased publication and the contributors were effectively silenced for the remainder of the war. Though this was a setback for Small, he had drawn public attention to his point of view and he remained ideologically pure, going on to be arrested in Europe after the state of war for advising workers to strike (Spartacus Educational).

An earlier response past Small to a steelworker strike in Pittsburgh (in 1916); he used grease pencil and ink brush

These cases demonstrate the incredible amount of meaning that has to be incorporated into a successful and memorable political cartoon. Philip Zec and Robert Minor each accomplished their chief purposes in "Don't lose it again!" and "At last a perfect soldier!", but Zec had the better plan. He managed to arts and crafts a positive message well-nigh military sacrifice and civic responsibility while at the same time scolding the politicians who had doubted him. In contrast, Minor just expressed frustration with the government and with military machine recruits, which led to the anticipated upshot of governmental retaliation.

This as well highlights the importance of context – the consummate rhetorical situation – in the success or failure of political cartoons. Looking at these 2 cartoons out of context, Minor'south is the more than engaging, using caricature and satire to total effect. However, in context, Zec'south made clever use of shared understandings to create more layers of meaning and arm-twist the desired response from each audience. As any successful drawing must, it becomes more impressive as its layers are peeled dorsum through rhetorical analysis.

[i] Backer, Dan. "A Cursory History of Cartoons." 1 July 1996. Graduate Thesis: Uniting Mugwumps and the Masses. Web. 27 September 2016. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma96/puck/part1.html>.

[ii] Spartacus Educational Publishers, Ltd. Philip Zec. August 2014. Web. 27 September 2016. <http://spartacus-educational.com/Jzec.htm>.

[3] Cronin, Brian. Stars of Political Cartooning – Philip Zec. 18 Ocober 2008. Web. 28 September 2016. <http://www.cbr.com/stars-of-political-cartooning-philip-zec/>.

[iv] Addison, Dr. Paul. Why Churchill Lost in 1945. 17 February 2011. Web. 3 Oct 2016. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/election_01.shtml#vii>.

[v] Spartacus Educational Publishers, Ltd. Tom Mooney. September 2015. Web. 3 October 2016. <http://spartacus-educational.com/USAmooney.htm>.

[6] Spartacus Educational Publishers, Ltd. Robert Small-scale. August 2014. Spider web. 3 October 2016. <http://spartacus-educational.com/ARTminor.htm>.

[vii] Vallen, Mark. "AT Concluding A PERFECT SOLDIER!". 28 May 2002. Web. three October 2016. <http://la.indymedia.org/news/2002/05/16866.php>.