Satire in Action
An examination of satirical cartoons
Herb Block
1) "What do they expect us to do, listen to the kids pray at home?" (1963)
Subject / Context
Persuasive Techniques
- the father's reaction is representative of how some Christians undoubtedly reacted to the ruling
- the family is meant to be representative of the typical Christian family
Exaggeration
- the facial expression on the dad is over-the-top to emphasize how ridiculous it was to get over-angry at the news
- the father's commanding presence over the table is an exaggerated view at the patriarchal family structure present in many families at the time
Labeling
- "Supreme Court Ruling" on the newspaper is labeled just to clarify exactly what the father is getting angry about
Analogy
- The rather complex issue of church vs state is examined from the perspective of a family eating at a dinner table.
Irony
- the cartoon is meant to criticize those opposed to the Supreme Court ruling; praying at home instead of school shouldn't be a big deal
- the father is shouting about having to hear his children pray (which would probably be very quiet or have no noise at all)
Purpose of Cartoon
2) "Kindly move over a little, gentlemen" (1965)
Subject / Context
Persuasive Techniques
- Grade A milk represents growth, particularly the growth afforded to the three areas
Exaggeration
- the guns on the hips of the cowboys branded "military establishments" and "arms costs" are rather gigantic, emphasizing the unnecessary presence of such forces
- LBJ's features are extreme to induce recognition
Labeling
- The bartender, whose features are LBJ's, is labeled "LBJ budget" to emphasize that the focus of the article isn't on LBJ, it's on LBJ's decision to increase the funding of the three areas
- The two go-get-em cowboys are labeled "military establishments" and "arms costs" to show what was sacrificed to fund the three areas
- The child is labeled "health," "education," and "welfare" to show that these three areas have been forgotten lately in favor of defense measures.
- Grade A milk is labeled to show that the bartender, LBJ / his budget, is trying to help the child grow
Analogy
- The cartoon examines the funding of the military and arms vs the funding of health, education, and welfare to show where the country's values were at the time and time right before publication
- The whole situation is an analogy to the nurturing nature of LBJ's policies
Irony
- LBJ / his budget is wagging a finger (and flashing a taunting smile) at the two cowboys. Instead of pouring drinks for the men (in a bar), he instead quenches the thirst of a child by providing Grade A milk. This is meant to show how unusual it was for LBJ to pay attention to these three areas as the Vietnam war was going on.
Purpose of Cartoon
3) "Remember -- don't vote for anyone who would interfere with the way we've been handling things" (1974)
Subject / Context
Persuasive Techniques
- The runaway horses of "inflation" and "recession" are meant to show that President Ford has let these things get a little out of hand
- Ford is hanging on for dear life to the horses' rein; he's still holding on, even if barely so
- The unlabeled man trampled by the horses represents a common man; Ford's failing policies have hurt the everyday man
Exaggeration
- Ford's physical features have been exaggerated for recognition
- Ford's expression doesn't match the situation, and is decidedly calm, almost stupidly so
Labeling
- The man holding on to the horses is labeled "Ford" to represent then-preseident Gerald Ford
- The runaway horses are labeled "recession" and "inflation" to detail Ford's relationship to these two things
Analogy
- The drawing is analogous in the way that it could be interpreted in two ways; Ford is keeping things in check, BARELY, or Ford has let things get this terrible. The duality of the image matches the duality of the way Ford saw himself (barely hanging on) and the way others saw him (failing).
Irony
- The caption reads "Remember -- don't vote for anyone who would interfere with the way we've been doing things." This is juxtaposed with the picture of the runaway horses; Ford wanting voters to stick with someone like himself when electing congressmen and senators is counterintuitive, as he's obviously doing something wrong
- It's not Ford who suffers, it's the commoner; this is representative of how recessions hit the middle and lower classes harder than the upper class.