Analyzing Political Cartoons
Analyzing Modern Political Cartoons As with any aspect of history, it is important to understand how these concepts and tools translate to the modern world. Political cartoons are still a powerful tool used by the media to address complex issues. With the internet as a tool, artists and journalists can create and upload cartoons anytime and share them with millions of readers within a matter of days or even hours. The first political cartoon artists of the 18th and 19th centuries could never have imagined the ability to reach such a large audience so quickly. Because of this, the purpose and style of political cartoons has changed over the centuries and it is important to analyze the different contexts of historical and modern political cartoons. While the purpose, style, and contexts might have changed, we can still apply the same analysis techniques to modern political cartoons. The following section will briefly walk you through an analysis of a modern cartoon and then you will answer several questions to check your understanding.
This is the original 1904 cartoon: Figure 2. Original 1904 cartoon depicting Standard Oil as a monopoly.
Figure 1. Amazon depicted as a monopoly.
This political cartoon is a commentary on the modern-day monopoly that the Amazon corporation holds, which extends to the U.S. Capitol and a statehouse. One tentacle reaches for the White House, while another has a stranglehold on several people grasping papers. The image on the left is actually a modified political cartoon. The original (on right) was published in 1904 as a reference to the corporate monopoly that the Standard Oil Company had established in the oil industry. Standard Oil had to be broken up by the Supreme Court in 1911 for violating anti-monopoly laws. The juxtaposition of the old-style cartoon with the modern Amazon logo creates a striking image, which we will analyze.
Let’s analyze the “Amazon Monopoly” cartoon.
Click the check to see if you are correct.
Who are the people depicted in the cartoon? Are they real historical individuals or are they symbolic of a larger group or movement? Where are the characters in relation to each other?
Step 1
Do you see any animals or humans who have been given animal or animal-like features? What are some common traits or characteristics assigned to that animal? What might be the historical context of the animal being used?
Step 2
Do you see any buildings in the image? What type of buildings is it? Is it standing or crumbling? Is there any furniture in the image like a throne, a chair, a table, a carpet, etc? Is it luxurious furniture or is it rough? What might be the purpose of including certain types of furniture?
Step 3
Look for any other objects in the image like ladders, trees, household items, boats, trains, etc. What do you think they represent? Is it a direct representation or a symbolic representation? How is it being used and by whom?
Step 4
Let’s analyze the “Amazon Monopoly” cartoon.
Click the check to see if you are correct.
Do you see any logos, insignias, flags, shapes, or other symbols? What group or person are they connected to? Where are they in the image in relationship to the other visual components? Are they being used to label another component?
Step 5
How did the artist choose to draw the visual elements? What elements like exaggeration of features or objects, irony in the way people or objects are depicted in relationship to one another, or the use of analogy do you see?
Step 6
Who was the author/artist? What did they do for a living? What were their political or social beliefs and associations?
The original 1904 image was produced by an artist named Joseph Keppler Jr. and published in Puck, a humor and satire magazine that was started in Germany by Keppler’s father. At the time that this cartoon was published, Keppler was the owner of the magazine. The name of the magazine, Puck, is a reference to the mischievous sprite from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, indicating that the magazine’s content was meant to be cheeky and irreverent, rather like MAD magazine was in the late 20th century. The 2017 version was created by a public radio program called On the Media for the website of a segment called “The Fight for Antitrust.” The episode focused on the history of monopolies and interviews Matt Stoller, author of a book on the history of the relationships between monopolies and the US government. On the Media is a public radio show that covers aspects of freedom of the press, internet media, privacy, censorship, and other issues.
Was the piece created to help support or to speak out against a person, institution, or organization? Was it meant to make a logical argument or a more emotional appeal to the audience? What was the author’s agenda in creating the cartoon?
With the original cartoon, Joseph Keppler’s goal perhaps was to shame US politicians into taking a stand against corporate monopolies, by implying that the corporations were usurping their power, or maybe to sway the votes of his readers toward anti-monopoly politicians. Think about the purpose of the Amazon cartoon and how it differs from the original.
What basic ideals is the cartoon supporting or speaking out against? (i.e., freedom, independence, courage, self-reliance, immorality, dishonesty, greed)
Both the original and the modified version of the cartoon are supporting free enterprise and democracy, and opposing corporate power, monopolies, and unregulated capitalism.
Answer the questions below based on the cartoons shown above in Figures 2 and 3. Click on the letter to check your answer
What do you think the purpose of the Amazon version of this cartoon might be? To reveal which branches of government are “in the pockets” of corporate monopolies. To send a message about the nature of monopolies and justify regulations. To criticize the personal wealth of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. To predict the impending overthrow of the U.S. government by a gigantic octopus.
The purpose of this exercise was to enable you to form a conclusion about the issues depicted in your cartoon. What conclusions can you draw from your analysis? How does the cartoon make you think differently about the issue? What effect do you think this cartoon would have had on its original intended audience? What effect do you think it would have had on the “opposition”? Political cartoons can be valuable primary sources for research, because they are demonstrations of the public consciousness at the specific time that they were created. They allow us a peek into the visual world of the past: how people imagined things, how they believed certain issues should be handled, and what types of thoughts or opinions were commonplace at the time (can you imagine a major newspaper today publishing a political cartoon encouraging the tarring and feathering of a public official?) Think about how political cartoons have changed over the centuries as well, especially with the advent of the internet.
The use of the octopus is significant and widespread in political cartoons. The eight tentacles are often used as a symbol for a person or entity that is reaching, grasping, or involved in many different things. They are usually used in a threatening context, as is indicated in this image by the octopus’s angry expression.
There are three notable buildings in the image: the U.S. Capitol, an unnamed state house, and the White House. The Amazon octopus has already taken hold of two of them in the image and is reaching for the White House. Once again, the modern artist has chosen not to alter the buildings or the tentacles in any way, implying that they believe Amazon’s influence has reached those places already. Underneath the body of the octopus, several other buildings can be seen, which appear to be factories. They are not being crushed, but are instead part of the monopoly.
The tentacles of the Amazon octopus are holding onto several men in the foreground, who are grasping papers. Since this part of the image has not been altered from the original, we can tell that the figures represent the copper and steel industries. The modern artist has chosen not to alter or label them, which demonstrates that they felt there was no real difference between the Standard Oil monopoly and the Amazon monopoly.
Under the octopus, several oil tanks and an oil rig can be seen in both the original and modern image. These are obviously part of the monopoly of Standard Oil. In the back left corner, one tentacle is grasping a ship, implying that the monopoly has hold of the shipping industry as well. These components are also unlabeled and unaltered.
The exaggerated size of the octopus indicates how large of an issue the original artist believed monopolies were. The creature is literally stretching across the globe, symbolizing the multinational nature of Standard Oil, and later, Amazon. The entire image is also an analogy, taking the complex issue of monopolies and boiling them down to essentially a scene from a sci-fi movie, thereby making it easier to grasp and visualize.
The large Amazon logo on top of the octopus is the feature of the cartoon. Its simplicity is fairly obvious, even to anyone who is not familiar with the original cartoon. The Amazon logo literally replaces the words “Standard Oil” in the original image, demonstrating just how little the artist believes has changed in the last 100+ years when it comes to large corporations.
Incorrect. Since the Capitol, the White House, and state governments change hands every so often, it is impossible to say that the branches of the U.S. government will always be in cahoots with corporate monopolies. This cartoon would be an ineffective way to reveal that information, as it does not contain specific names of politicians or policies that support Amazon.
Correct! The purpose of the Amazon cartoon is similar. The radio episode “The Fight for Antitrust” asserted that the right time to act to break up monopolies like Amazon is now and that anti-monopoly activism has never been stronger. The altered image was meant to send a message that the nature of monopolies has changed very little between 1904 and 2017, and so the actions against monopolies should be the same as they were in 1911: break them up and regulate them.
Incorrect. The cartoon does not specifically deal with Bezos, most likely because the creators felt that Amazon’s monopoly would be threatening no matter who the CEO is, and that Bezos’ personal wealth is a mostly separate issue.
Incorrect. Probably not.
Analyzing Political Cartoons
Lisa Valentine
Created on August 20, 2024
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Transcript
Analyzing Political Cartoons
Analyzing Modern Political Cartoons As with any aspect of history, it is important to understand how these concepts and tools translate to the modern world. Political cartoons are still a powerful tool used by the media to address complex issues. With the internet as a tool, artists and journalists can create and upload cartoons anytime and share them with millions of readers within a matter of days or even hours. The first political cartoon artists of the 18th and 19th centuries could never have imagined the ability to reach such a large audience so quickly. Because of this, the purpose and style of political cartoons has changed over the centuries and it is important to analyze the different contexts of historical and modern political cartoons. While the purpose, style, and contexts might have changed, we can still apply the same analysis techniques to modern political cartoons. The following section will briefly walk you through an analysis of a modern cartoon and then you will answer several questions to check your understanding.
This is the original 1904 cartoon: Figure 2. Original 1904 cartoon depicting Standard Oil as a monopoly.
Figure 1. Amazon depicted as a monopoly.
This political cartoon is a commentary on the modern-day monopoly that the Amazon corporation holds, which extends to the U.S. Capitol and a statehouse. One tentacle reaches for the White House, while another has a stranglehold on several people grasping papers. The image on the left is actually a modified political cartoon. The original (on right) was published in 1904 as a reference to the corporate monopoly that the Standard Oil Company had established in the oil industry. Standard Oil had to be broken up by the Supreme Court in 1911 for violating anti-monopoly laws. The juxtaposition of the old-style cartoon with the modern Amazon logo creates a striking image, which we will analyze.
Let’s analyze the “Amazon Monopoly” cartoon.
Click the check to see if you are correct.
Who are the people depicted in the cartoon? Are they real historical individuals or are they symbolic of a larger group or movement? Where are the characters in relation to each other?
Step 1
Do you see any animals or humans who have been given animal or animal-like features? What are some common traits or characteristics assigned to that animal? What might be the historical context of the animal being used?
Step 2
Do you see any buildings in the image? What type of buildings is it? Is it standing or crumbling? Is there any furniture in the image like a throne, a chair, a table, a carpet, etc? Is it luxurious furniture or is it rough? What might be the purpose of including certain types of furniture?
Step 3
Look for any other objects in the image like ladders, trees, household items, boats, trains, etc. What do you think they represent? Is it a direct representation or a symbolic representation? How is it being used and by whom?
Step 4
Let’s analyze the “Amazon Monopoly” cartoon.
Click the check to see if you are correct.
Do you see any logos, insignias, flags, shapes, or other symbols? What group or person are they connected to? Where are they in the image in relationship to the other visual components? Are they being used to label another component?
Step 5
How did the artist choose to draw the visual elements? What elements like exaggeration of features or objects, irony in the way people or objects are depicted in relationship to one another, or the use of analogy do you see?
Step 6
Who was the author/artist? What did they do for a living? What were their political or social beliefs and associations?
The original 1904 image was produced by an artist named Joseph Keppler Jr. and published in Puck, a humor and satire magazine that was started in Germany by Keppler’s father. At the time that this cartoon was published, Keppler was the owner of the magazine. The name of the magazine, Puck, is a reference to the mischievous sprite from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, indicating that the magazine’s content was meant to be cheeky and irreverent, rather like MAD magazine was in the late 20th century. The 2017 version was created by a public radio program called On the Media for the website of a segment called “The Fight for Antitrust.” The episode focused on the history of monopolies and interviews Matt Stoller, author of a book on the history of the relationships between monopolies and the US government. On the Media is a public radio show that covers aspects of freedom of the press, internet media, privacy, censorship, and other issues.
Was the piece created to help support or to speak out against a person, institution, or organization? Was it meant to make a logical argument or a more emotional appeal to the audience? What was the author’s agenda in creating the cartoon?
With the original cartoon, Joseph Keppler’s goal perhaps was to shame US politicians into taking a stand against corporate monopolies, by implying that the corporations were usurping their power, or maybe to sway the votes of his readers toward anti-monopoly politicians. Think about the purpose of the Amazon cartoon and how it differs from the original.
What basic ideals is the cartoon supporting or speaking out against? (i.e., freedom, independence, courage, self-reliance, immorality, dishonesty, greed)
Both the original and the modified version of the cartoon are supporting free enterprise and democracy, and opposing corporate power, monopolies, and unregulated capitalism.
Answer the questions below based on the cartoons shown above in Figures 2 and 3. Click on the letter to check your answer
What do you think the purpose of the Amazon version of this cartoon might be? To reveal which branches of government are “in the pockets” of corporate monopolies. To send a message about the nature of monopolies and justify regulations. To criticize the personal wealth of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. To predict the impending overthrow of the U.S. government by a gigantic octopus.
The purpose of this exercise was to enable you to form a conclusion about the issues depicted in your cartoon. What conclusions can you draw from your analysis? How does the cartoon make you think differently about the issue? What effect do you think this cartoon would have had on its original intended audience? What effect do you think it would have had on the “opposition”? Political cartoons can be valuable primary sources for research, because they are demonstrations of the public consciousness at the specific time that they were created. They allow us a peek into the visual world of the past: how people imagined things, how they believed certain issues should be handled, and what types of thoughts or opinions were commonplace at the time (can you imagine a major newspaper today publishing a political cartoon encouraging the tarring and feathering of a public official?) Think about how political cartoons have changed over the centuries as well, especially with the advent of the internet.
The use of the octopus is significant and widespread in political cartoons. The eight tentacles are often used as a symbol for a person or entity that is reaching, grasping, or involved in many different things. They are usually used in a threatening context, as is indicated in this image by the octopus’s angry expression.
There are three notable buildings in the image: the U.S. Capitol, an unnamed state house, and the White House. The Amazon octopus has already taken hold of two of them in the image and is reaching for the White House. Once again, the modern artist has chosen not to alter the buildings or the tentacles in any way, implying that they believe Amazon’s influence has reached those places already. Underneath the body of the octopus, several other buildings can be seen, which appear to be factories. They are not being crushed, but are instead part of the monopoly.
The tentacles of the Amazon octopus are holding onto several men in the foreground, who are grasping papers. Since this part of the image has not been altered from the original, we can tell that the figures represent the copper and steel industries. The modern artist has chosen not to alter or label them, which demonstrates that they felt there was no real difference between the Standard Oil monopoly and the Amazon monopoly.
Under the octopus, several oil tanks and an oil rig can be seen in both the original and modern image. These are obviously part of the monopoly of Standard Oil. In the back left corner, one tentacle is grasping a ship, implying that the monopoly has hold of the shipping industry as well. These components are also unlabeled and unaltered.
The exaggerated size of the octopus indicates how large of an issue the original artist believed monopolies were. The creature is literally stretching across the globe, symbolizing the multinational nature of Standard Oil, and later, Amazon. The entire image is also an analogy, taking the complex issue of monopolies and boiling them down to essentially a scene from a sci-fi movie, thereby making it easier to grasp and visualize.
The large Amazon logo on top of the octopus is the feature of the cartoon. Its simplicity is fairly obvious, even to anyone who is not familiar with the original cartoon. The Amazon logo literally replaces the words “Standard Oil” in the original image, demonstrating just how little the artist believes has changed in the last 100+ years when it comes to large corporations.
Incorrect. Since the Capitol, the White House, and state governments change hands every so often, it is impossible to say that the branches of the U.S. government will always be in cahoots with corporate monopolies. This cartoon would be an ineffective way to reveal that information, as it does not contain specific names of politicians or policies that support Amazon.
Correct! The purpose of the Amazon cartoon is similar. The radio episode “The Fight for Antitrust” asserted that the right time to act to break up monopolies like Amazon is now and that anti-monopoly activism has never been stronger. The altered image was meant to send a message that the nature of monopolies has changed very little between 1904 and 2017, and so the actions against monopolies should be the same as they were in 1911: break them up and regulate them.
Incorrect. The cartoon does not specifically deal with Bezos, most likely because the creators felt that Amazon’s monopoly would be threatening no matter who the CEO is, and that Bezos’ personal wealth is a mostly separate issue.
Incorrect. Probably not.