
Dr. Seuss, one of the greatest figures in literature for children’s books, was known despite common knowledge, as a political satirist as well.  Dr. Seuss saw the vast majority of the 20th century, and very importantly, he lived through some of the most prominent times in our history.  A milestone in the world’s timeline was the second world war, which was a huge threat to the civility between the most powerful nations in the world at the time.  As many know, Nazi Germany was the outlying tyranny that arose many of the problems between many nations back in the nineteen thirties and forties.  To many, they were known as the aggressor.  The dominating power that oppressed the weak; in this case, the surrounding nations.  Dr. Seuss, an American, known as a famous poet to most, constructs a picture to satirize the power of Nazi Germany.  Within the political cartoon that Seuss presents, includes a background of a water mass and a tiny island in the middle of the water mass.  On the tiny island in the middle is a man with a shirt that reads, “the appeaser.”  Surrounding the tiny island and the man on it, are many serpent looking creatures with swastikas covering their bodies.  Above the general picture reads a line that says, “Remember . . . One More Lollypop, and Then You All Go Home!”  The underlying message in this political cartoon is about a common term known as “Appeasing the Aggressor.”  As we know from the text included, the man on the middle island is known as the appeaser, while one can infer the many monstrous looking creatures surrounding the man are the aggressors; which symbolize nazi germany.  The text at the top of the image can be interpreted as the words of the appeaser, offering up more appeasement in hopes to avoid conflict.  Dr. Seuss develops a political cartoon to identify the corruption among foreign affairs during the second world war, using cartoon figures and brief captions.  The figures that Seuss uses for his image, are more appealing for a children’s perspective, but hold a more sophisticated meaning.  In Dr. Seuss’s political Cartoon, “Appeasing the Aggressor,” he makes his argument about giving into an intensive and oppressive power for civility, by using simplistic visual appeals to create an easier and more intriguing connection between the viewer and the underlying message. 

To many, they Nazi Germany was known as the aggressor during WWII.  The dominating power that oppressed the weak; in this case, the surrounding nations.  Dr. Seuss, an American, known as a famous poet to most, constructs a picture to satirize the power of Nazi Germany.  Within the political cartoon that Seuss presents, includes a background of a water mass and a tiny island in the middle of the water mass.  On the tiny island in the middle is a man with a shirt that reads, “the appeaser.”  Surrounding the tiny island and the man on it, are many serpent looking creatures with swastikas covering their bodies.  Above the general picture reads a line that says, “Remember . . . One More Lollypop, and Then You All Go Home!”  The underlying message in this political cartoon is about a common term known as “Appeasing the Aggressor.”  As we know from the text included, the man on the middle island is known as the appeaser, while one can infer the many monstrous looking creatures surrounding the man are the aggressors; which symbolize nazi germany.  The text at the top of the image can be interpreted as the words of the appeaser, offering up more appeasement in hopes to avoid conflict.  All of this underlying message is portrayed through the simple use of cartoon characters and small captions so that even the simplest minds can appreciate the image, but most need to seek for the message that appears through the simplicity.  

Although the political cartoon includes images that are very friendly to the eye, they are without any color, and used with much shade.  Often the use of the color scheme also connects with the background of the message.  Dr. Suess made sure the image was dark for a reason,  the dark gray and black colors help suppress any trace of excitement or happiness.  He wants the viewer to understand that this cartoon is supposed to signify a dark time, without including the horrors the came about during this era.  Nazi Germany’s reign in Europe was a difficult time for many countries in the world, especially for the US, considering the United States was the country that had to resolve the conflict.  Dr. Suess being an American, it only makes sense that he would downplay the potential fun this image holds at first glance.  Without the dull colors, the image wouldn’t be able to set the mood for the overall message as clearly.  Dark and somber colors brought together the tone of the cartoon, and helped further connect the viewer to the message they should be understanding. 

Dr. Suess also made sure to include that the characters/figures in this image were smiling.  In one context, the serpent-like creatures that surround the tiny island in the middle have a very noticeably devious looking smile.  They clearly don’t seem to be innocently content, their smiles are corrupt and shows that they perhaps do not have good intentions.  Not to mention before even looking at their smiles, they are blatantly much bigger, much more abundant, and much more dangerous-looking than the one man on the tiny island in the middle, and their bodies seem like they are about to attack at any moment.  The man in the middle also has a smile, but his is far from devious.  His smile shows his discomfort, and his anticipation.  The man appears as if the creatures around him are unpredictable, so he seems very calm and gratuitously offers lollypops to avoid any conflicts with the creatures.  There is definitely a contrast between the facial expressions and the body language used by the characters and figures in this cartoon.  Suess uses this body language to help highlight the overall message of the cartoon.  The discomfort of the man and his calm body language and facial expression show his appeasement.  The assaultive body language and devious smiles of the water creatures show the aggression of that force.  These both come together to help support the argument of the satire of  “appeasing the aggressor.”

The use of simplistic characters and children’s visual appeals mixed with uses of visual elements like color scheme and body language was Dr. Suess’s appropriate way of communicating the message of appeasement to the viewer, without having to include much of the horrors that images of this time actually looked like.  Suess took a new approach to criticising the world’s terrors and eliminated the tragic specifics by making a new satirical stance on the political drama in an entirely more visually appealing way.  