Political Cartoon Analysis

Above, one can see the very simple political cartoon. It has been passed around the internet and has no definite author as of late. The message, however, is definite and clear. The goal is to define and proke a choice between the most prominent political ideologies, Capitalism and Communism.

To begin and the foremost point, the artist utilizes the modes of discourse. Starting off, to separate their premise of political ideology, the artist used Classification and division. The ideology is divided along the economic axis, and is classified using the means of production, notably the ownership thereof. Next, the artist uses Comparison and contrast to differentiate Capitalism and Communism, to highlight the cartoon’s purpose. In comparison, both

The cartoon pleads to one’s personal feelings and inner self to make a decision between the competing ideologies. The presented options carry weight with one personally because the workers represent an ordinary person. Under Capitalism, the workers have chains, they are enslaved. They are frowning, they’re overworked and tired. Behind the machine, there’s the boss who does not work himself, but sets egregious quotas and forces the men into exhaustion. This is seen as not a problem because the boss ‘owns’ the machine. For this, the product of labor, the wealth, goes to the boss while only a sliver trickles down to the workers as a wage. Because of this imbalance, the boss maintains control and the workers are kept enslaved. In contrast, the cartoon shows the situation under Communism to be different. The workers on this side do not have chains. They are smiling. They work at an sustainable pace; they’re not overworked. The reason behind this and the key contrast between the sides is that there’s no boss. On this side there’s no ruling class. The machine is the worker’s, the peoples, and as such the product, the wealth, is theirs. Now the implication of the cartoon is a decision. What is preferable to us, the workers? Decide whether or not to be bound in slavery by the bourgeois. Everyone must question themselves for what they believe. This personal decision is Pathos, an appeal to the emotions of the workers by the