Tom+WWII

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** Cartoon 1 Analysis ** The first cartoon was made by Dr. Seuss, a man known for making children’s books. In this cartoon, there is a Japanese man depicted in an offensive manner and obviously Hitler. Hitler appears like he has achieved something great. The text in the cartoon reads “Don’t let them carve THOSE faces on our mountains.” Dr. Seuss is alluding to Mount Rushmore, where our forefathers’ faces are carved into the mountain. From this it also seems as though he is suggesting that if war bonds are not bought, our history will be erased. In the background of the cartoon, the Nazi flag is hanging above the flag of the United States of America. This symbolizes defeat. Also on the cartoon, there is text that reads, “BUY UNITED STATES SAVINGS BONDS AND STAMPS!” This cartoon was obviously made in order to persuade people to buy war bonds in order to help fund the war. Dr. Seuss is advertising war bonds in this cartoon, saying that if war bonds are not bought, then we could be taken over by the Axis. War bonds, bought for $18.75 during WW2, were used to fund the war efforts. Many people bought the war bonds because it gave them a sense of patriotism for helping the war efforts. Also, in this cartoon, near the Japanese man and Hitler, there is darkness. This is displaying the Japanese and Hitler in a bad light, furthermore motivating Americans to buy war bonds. In conclusion, Dr. Seuss’s main point in this cartoon is to motivate Americans to buy a war bonds.

** Cartoon 2 ** This cartoon, made by David Low was to depict how Hitler was taking advantage of the world because nobody was willing to stand up to him. In the cartoon, the man walking is obviously Hitler. Hitler is also “thumbing his nose”, which is a sign of disrespect and disregard. Hitler is showing disrespect towards these “spineless leaders” who did not want to start any conflict. These people let Hitler walk all over them. Hitler, the powerful man that he was, took over all of the places that he could. These gutless leaders were not willing to confront Hitler, so they appeased him and avoided war at all costs. This made Hitler’s goal even more attainable in his own mind, nobody was challenging him! Hitler wanted to test the League of Nations to see if they actually would do anything besides scold him, but they never did. Knowing that he had no limitations, he attempted to capture more land. This eventually led to the war. I also saw in the cartoon that there is a carpet laid out for Hitler to walk upon. I believe that this carpet symbolizes how the theory of appeasement made it easy for Hitler to perform his master plan, to take over the world. The cartoonist also makes the other leaders look helpless, showing how powerful Hitler was at the time. It also seems that the cartoonist is suggesting that if nobody gets the courage to stand up against Hitler, he will take over the entire world with ease. In conclusion, this cartoon depicts the issue of how the countries who were using the theory of appeasement did not have the guts to stand up to Hitler because they did not want to start another world war.