Symbolism In Pride Of Baghdad

Pride of Baghdad – Freedom at any cost?

Pride of Baghdad is a short graphic novel written by Brian K. Vaughn. In the spring of 2003, a pride of lions escaped from the Baghdad zoo during an American bombing raid. The Pride of Baghdad story revolves around four lions in a struggle for their lives that are lost and confused roaming the destroyed streets of Baghdad. Vaughn’s Pride of Baghdad uses unique symbolism by representing the Iraqi society during the war in each animal’s character. He uses animals to bring the reader closer to the topic of war. When reading I felt an emotional attachment to the lions along their journey. I feel the conversations between animals could easily be interchanged with real people. I believe one of the most important pages is the conversation between Noor and one of the

The antelope states at the beginning of its conversation with Noor, that “she shouldn’t be there” (Vaughn and Henrichon 7). Due to a lack of trust and fear, she said no, just like many Iraqis did. This represents the fear of how Iraqis felt during Hussein’s rule. Everyone knew they should not be meeting to discuss any type of revolt because if the government found out they would be killed.

Vaughn also used several other animals as symbols throughout the book. He used an old turtle to represent a wise old man. This turtle spoke of the memories of the walkers and black falling from the sky which poisoned the ground. He also represented someone who had been deeply affected by the war because his family and friends had died. Fajer, the black bear, represented Saddam Hussein. He was a greater power who demanded the lions bow down to him or both would be killed. It took all the lions, plus the horses to defeat him. This would represent how it would take the Iraqi people along with the United States military to defeat