Summative Source Analysis Of A Political Cartoon

Summative Source Analysis

Source 1: This source is a political cartoon that shows a man dressed like a cowboy from a kid’s western eating a sandwich the has the earth inside of it instead of meat or vegetables. The man is wearing a ten gallon hat that has stars and stripes on it, a bandana, and a vest with a sheriff’s star pinned to it, which all together symbolize that he represents North America. More specifically, he represents the United States of America, and is showcasing the Southern part of the United States where the people are stereotyped as redneck or hillbilly. The man’s mouth in this cartoon is overdrawn to the point that it is almost grotesque, which helps symbolize the insatiable appetite the man has for the earth. Or more figuratively, the gluttonous appetite the

Another hidden meaning that can be gleaned from the cartoon is made evident by the positioning of the man’s hat so the brim covers his eyes. It’s showing that the man is essentially blind to what he is doing, and doesn’t see the full effect of what having his quick snack could do. This brings up the matter of what the hat itself symbolizes. The hat with it’s American flag seems to symbolize the American government and media that works to hide what is actually happening from the everyday consumers. The final symbol that is important to this source is the size of the objects drawn. Compared to the earth in between the sandwich bread the man is ginormous, he takes up so much space and has so much power, while the world literally fits between his hands. This is to show that power is often concentrated in the Western world which isn’t necessarily a good thing because the Western world can often see the entire world as insignificant compared to themselves. These symbols really help defining the main attitude of this cartoon. Overall, the main attitude of this cartoon is satire. It’s ridiculing the Western stereotype to expose a more important point about