Analyzing Cartoons Rhetorically
Cartoons are widely used to express different situations that people or countries find themselves in. They express deep feelings and thoughts of people about particular issues in life. I chose cartoons expressing the harsh global economy.
The first cartoon shows a man seating on a sack full of debts placed on top of another man. The latter is reading a magazine with a title “Slipping Economy”. The man on top is holding cards saying high tax cuts. The cartoon expresses what the common people are facing during this hard economic time. There are so many debts that the citizens have become desolate. There is no hope for better tomorrow. The country has accumulated a lot of debts burdening the normal citizens to repay them. The debts of the country are carried by the citizens as tax rates go high in order to repay the debts.
The second cartoon shows the impact of the harsh economy on the people. People have opted for cheaper forms of transport such as bicycles. Bicycles do not use fuel, hence are a good alternative. However, a bicycle cannot cover large distances. There is exaggerration when the seller tells the customer that he would get a private mean of transport for as long as he does not exceed 10,000 miles in a year.
The third cartoon shows a man in a rainy day, rooted deeply in thought of how to take himself out of the harsh economy. The man looks like he is facing a lot of challenges due to the financial crisis affecting him. He holds an umbrela with the inscription “Stimulus tax rebate” revealing what he is thinking about. The man is emotionally affected by the crisis as the cartoon shows. It is raining; that means that the crisis is still increasing, and the man is almost covered with water to show the extend of the crisis.
The fourth cartoon shows a man kicked out of a bank. There is an inscription on the bank’s entry door “Bail out banks, the busks stop here”. This shows that the banks have also been hit by the harsh global economy. Instead of bailing out people from their financial problems, the bank is calling on people to bail it out. The kick administered to the customer is exaggerated since no one can do that to a customer even if the situation is the worst.
The next cartoon shows a crumbled trailer with “US Economy” inscription on it. The traller depicts that the US economy has crumbled down. There is no more hope of revival since the whole trailer is wasted. The driver of the trailer seems to be saying that “on the plus side, we seem to have hit bottom”. This shows that the US economy has reduced to very low rates hitting the bottom. There is an exaggeration in the cartoon since no one could survive such an accident. Despite the harsh economic crisis, people are still surviving. The extent of the accident of the trailer could have killed the driver.
Generaly, all the cartoons depict different situations brought about by the harsh global economy. Countries have accumulated a lot of debts burdening the ordinary citizens. People have sought alternative ways of transport to save on fuel consumption. For instance, bicycle use is on the rise since they do not use fuel and are cheap. Banks no longer provide solutions to needy citizens since they themselves need to be bailed out of the situation. High tax rates and increase of price on commodities are all a result of the financial crisis. The cartoons exptress what is happening in the current world with the consiquences to the global economy.
