Cartoon Blog

 

I find this to be a very interesting and typical portrayal of the state of the economy of our country. The cartoon shows president Obama in a doctor’s coat while an old man is dying in a hospital bed. His label is “The economy.” This is a clear metaphor showing that the president is supposed to be taking care of the economy but is not paying enough attention and claims that he will be back later with a plan for it. The imagery in this cartoon is interesting because President Obama seems to have a smile on his face as he is leaving the hospital room. This could be the artist saying that Obama is not taking the economic crisis seriously enough and is going about things in a lighthearted manner when the economic problems seem to be growing worse and worse as time goes on.

Another point that can be noted is how Dr. Obama claims he will be back in a few weeks when the patient is clearly dying and needs immediate attention. Many people, including the artist of this cartoon, think that president Obama and the rest of Washington are not coming up with plans fast enough to help the crashing economy.

I think that the woman standing next to the dying patient could be a representation of a few different things. Her facial expression shows that she is not so much shocked as she is speechless and paralyzed with emotion. She seems to know that the fate of the man next to her is already set and that he is going to die. I think that it is possible this woman is supposed to be the economies of the rest of the world or Europe. They would be shocked because the economy of the United States is very important to the rest of the world. The woman, who could represent either of these things, seems to know that the economy does not have a chance to survive and may be thinking instead of what will happen to her now that the United States’ economy has crashed and burned.

The rhetoric used by the artist here is definitely very strong and is attempting to persuade the viewer that president Obama is irresponsible and is not paying attention to crisis at hand with the economy. The rhetoric used instead makes him seem like he is in no rush to save the economy and will take his time before creating an action plan to help save the economy. It can definitely be said from this cartoon that the artist does not agree with the way President Obama is handling the economic crisis and wants more immediate action out of the government to fix the problems at hand.