The image I chose was originally created for the Juvenile Protective Association or JPA, which is a nonprofit based in Chicago that works on behalf of children to secure their well being and help at risk or endangered youth reach their full potential. It depicts a little boy crying, with a large black hand constructed of harsh words wrapped around his throat. The words “Your words have power use them wisely” are much smaller to the side of the boy. The messages conveyed in this image are the explicit message of think before you speak, and the implicit message that verbal abuse is as harmful as its physical counterpart.
“Your words have power use them wisely” is a powerful, yet obvious statement. It’s power is demonstrated through the fact that in the
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The hand’s black color contrasts with the the pallor of the boy’s skin and the grey background adding a difference in tone as well as helping to emphasis it. Continuing on with the color of the hand, black can have an evil connotation and children are usually viewed as symbols of innocence. Therefore, the idea of evil harming innocence is used an example of pathos in an attempt to spur a viewer into action against that evil. There is also a contrast within the hand itself which is demonstrated through the differences in size, transparency, length, and the angle that each insult that make up the hand. When most people hear the word abuse they automatically think of physical abuse, like a hand around someone’s throat for example. The fact that the hand isn’t just any hand, but a hand made up of hurtful words and phrases, like “fool” or “ you spoiled brat,” help to remind the viewer and demonstrate the implicit message that verbal abuse is still a form of abuse. Those phrases are things no child, or any person for that matter, should have to hear from anyone who “cares” about or for