With the conflict over
Syria's use of chemical weapons, it is no surprise that there is an abundance
of political cartoons about the subject. Political cartoons typically explain
the public’s general attitude towards a current event. I have seen numerous
images emphasizing Obama’s red line, Assad with a butcher’s knife, or Putin
handing off weapons to the Syrians. However Dan Nott, the artist behind the
cartoon below, expresses a different and unlikely opinion. In this image,
the author establishes his credibility through his knowledge and understanding
of the issue: he reminds the audience, anyone up to date in current events, of
the choices President Obama has, and then he states the aftermath of each
option if it were to be chosen. The results of each door appeal to logic, as
the audience can understand how or why those possibilities would occur. The
inclusion of those speech bubbles demonstrates not only Nott’s empathy for the
President, but also for the Syrian people. Nott’s diction, “death, escalation,
and chaos,” causes the audience to mimic his feelings of empathy towards both
the Syrians and the President. Nott explains that the President will be “blamed”
for the results of either scenario, no matter what Obama chooses. Essentially,
that was Nott’s purpose: to convince the audience to understand that the
President has a tough decision to make that, in either situation, is a no win
scenario. Nott wants the audience to not be so narrow-minded as the situation
is not as simple as anyone would like to believe. This idea is refreshing:
cartoonists tend to pick apart politicians; so to see one encourage the public
to empathize with the President is inspirational. The purpose of this cartoon
easily gets across to the reader in a way that is innovative, compassionate and
clever, for that I admire Nott.
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| http://dannott.com/tag/syria/ |
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