One thing that is very similar about America today and the Americas of the 1940’s is the strong threat of foreign attacks on our soil. National security was just as big of an issue back then as it is now. In World War II one of America’s biggest threat came from Japan, and after they attacked Pearl Harbor the US entered the war and people become scared. The solution to people’s fears was Executive Oder 9066, which was signed into order by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Tis executive order created the relocation of over 100,000 thousand Japanese American citizens into internment camps around the country. At this time there was a lot of anti-Japanese and anti-European sentiment throughout the country and many newspapers started to print some print some pretty heavy propaganda. One of the leading illustrator of the propaganda was none other than Dr. Seuss.  One in particular is targeted against the Japanese saying that they are all dangerous and are still loyal to the Empire. He was trying to convince the U.S citizens that at any second the Japanese already on American soil could lash out and start attacking. In this picture, Dr. Seuss used text, stereotypical and racist features when drawing the Japanese, and the lack of color to create an effective political cartoon against the Japanese.

Words can be an effective part of any picture or political carton. It has the ability to connect what the reader may decipher on their own with the intended meaning that the illustrator had when drawing it. When it comes to a political cartoon, there is always an intended meaning behind it. The author is trying to share his personal beliefs with the reader. That means that words are one of the best ways to make sure the person viewing it knows the actual meaning behind it. In the Dr. Seuss cartoon, I am looking at he uses words to fill I a lot of blanks. The setting is the west coast of the United States so he labels the states on the edge of the land and water. On a psychological level this makes the drawing more relatable to people who call this area of the country their home. In the forefront of the picture is a house that is labeled the, “Honorable 5th Column” this is a term used for a smaller group of people who are trying to overthrow a bigger power. Different connotations that come to mind with this phrase is espionage, deceit, and trickery. In the house there are boxes with TNT labeled on them which are being handed out to countless Japanese people. That, along with the words “Waiting for the Signal From Home”, which is written across the top tell you the possible danger that these people caused because of the potential loyalty they had with the Japanese Empire. Words in this cartoon give a blunt and direct meaning to the drawing and give the picture a heavier meaning to it.

One of the things that Seuss had to do in order to really compel his readers is make sure that they knew who he was going after. If he drew generic people a person looking at it could think he was talking about any group of people. In this cartoon stereotypical characteristics are emphasized to try to put them in a negative light in the publics eyes. He used these stereotypes in such a way that they were considered offensive and had to later apologize to the Japanese American Citizens League in the years to come. The people he depicted had overly exaggerated slanted eyes and a pig shaped nose. This offensive cartoons along with numerous others shown in newspapers gave the sense to the public that it was alright to judge others based on what they see in a cartoon. The use of those stereotypes in such a respected form of media gave people the state of mind that using them in everyday life was normal and accepted.

The main spark of hatred towards the Japanese people in the united states was the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This was one of the deadliest attacks on U.S soil and no one saw it coming. Just like today, after a shooting or a bombing, people back then became anxious and nervous about what might happen. Especially on the west coast people were very cautious about immigrants coming from other countries. The use of only black and white was a way for Dr. Seuss to confirm to people that their fears were valid and should be a major concern. Lack of color is a way to distance human empathy from the fear they have for their safety. If the people were to have more color to them, they would be more humanized and probably less feared than they otherwise would be. The other thing that the black and white of the drawing could symbolize is that it is an absolute that the Japanese were evil. Usually in the world is something is called “black and white” then there isn’t more than one thing that an answer can be. In this case Dr. Seuss is saying that the only option to keep America safe is to lock the Japanese up in internment camps.

An effective political cartoonist can look at a society, pick it apart, and find what makes the public upset. In this case, Dr. Seuss used over exaggerations and racial stereotypes in an unrealistic situation to drive peoples fear of what the worst case scenario could possibly be. The words within the cartoon along with the physical characteristics and color choice by Dr. Seuss drove people to accept that Japanese and Japanese Americans were a legit threat to the security of America and should be put into internment camps.
