Cartoons are used in a variety of ways, sometimes as entertainment and humor and other times as criticism for political or social issues. In Jamie Stoner’s 2016 cartoon, “Forgotten,” the illustrator’s idea was to bring attention to what is becoming a widespread issue, pet abandonment. Dog owners understand the feelings that come with having a lifelong companion by their side. These people watch their dog grow up, play with him throughout childhood, spend hours training him, and snuggle with their pup during hard times. How could one imagine abandoning their dog, their sidekick, their companion?  How can one leave these loyal companions in the cold without any explanation? Stoner’s 2016 cartoon, “Forgotten” tells the story of a dog growing up with his beloved owner, who eventually abandons him without notice. This problem is prevalent in society, as animal shelters are flooded with stray dogs and cats that are found every year, hungry, sick and alone. Jamie Stoner brings awareness to this issue through various techniques; parallelism, the use of little to no blank spaces, and muted colors in the final panel to create an ultimately lonely and depressing mood.

Parallelism is the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same. In this case, it is the author’s repetition of three-word sentences that begin with “you” and end with “him.”  Not only does this add rhythm and an explanation for each panel, it emphasizes the verb in each sentence, which changes with each panel. This shows the progression of the owner’s relationship with his dog. Their relationship began with “you got him” and turned into “raised” to “loved” to “left.” This technique is significant, because the viewer begins to immerse themselves in the loving relationship, which is immediately crushed when the owner leaves in the fourth slide. Additionally, the use of the second-person point of view, particularly the word “you” helps the viewer relate to the owner’s feelings and experience their own sense of guilt when the owner leaves. Since the verb is the only component that changes with each sentence, this draws attention to the final panel in which the entire sentence layout is different. In this panel, the dog “doesn’t know why” his owner abandoned him. This abrupt change in sentence layout captures the viewer’s attention and forces him or her to focus mainly on this slide and the dog’s sadness after being abandoned. Additionally, Stoner’s use of parallelism keeps the message of the comic simple and easy to understand. When people feel strong about a topic, they express their views through long and sometimes complicated speeches or verbal attacks. However, Stoner expresses the importance of pet abandonment through simple sentences that appeal and relate to viewers. Overall, parallelism draws attention to the strong verbs in each sentence, which effectively shows the owner’s final cruel treatment of his dog ad allows readers to easily understand the message of the comic.

The author’s use of vibrant colors and little to no blank spaces expresses the dog’s feelings and love for his owner. Although it is proven that dogs are color blind and have trouble distinguishing red from other colors, the illustrator included a variety of shades of red in the comic. Red is often associated with love, and the goal of including red in the panels is to show how much the dog loves his owner. The owner essentially adds color and love to the dogs otherwise red-less life. There is little use of dull colors, such as black and white, in most panels. Because of this colorful illustration, the mood of the comic seems to be upbeat and loving. Furthermore, there are barely any blank spaces in the comic. This is true, because the owner is the dog’s entire life. The absence of blank spaces essentially symbolizes that the owner takes up all space in the dog’s life, he is all the dog knows. This emphasizes the divide between pet and owner. Owner’s live exciting lives outside of the home and aside from their pets. However, pets look up to their owners and rely on them, and often find it difficult to survive without their care.

Throughout the comic, the author uses vibrant colors with the exception of the final panel, which includes more black and white shades. The use of muted colors in the final slide changes the theme of the comic. In the first three slides, the relationship between the dog and the owner is upbeat, happy, and loving. After the owner abandons the dog in the fourth panel, the colors and the theme become dark and gloomy. This change in color scheme abruptly changes the mood of the comic. The love shared between the dog and the owner is destroyed when the owner leaves. In the final panel, the walls, door, and even the dog are pictured in mostly black and whites. However, the hills, sky, and moon that can be seen through the window are still colorful. The author uses this effect to show that in the dog’s eyes, there is still hope that his owner will return. Dogs are extremely loyal, and often return to their owners after they are abandoned or abused by them. The dog is looking out of the window in vain at the colors that his owner left behind, which adds to the depressing mood of the final slide.

Jamie Stoner uses parallelism, barely any blank spaces, and muted colors in the final slide of her 2016 comic “Forgotten.” These techniques exaggerate the sadness that the dog feels after his owner leaves, and causes the viewer to feel the same pain as the dog and even relate with the guilt of the owner. The use of parallelism emphasizes the verb change in each sentence and the abrupt loss of the relationship between the dog and its owner. The use of vibrant colors and the lack of blank spaces expresses the dog’s emotions and love toward his owner, despite the pain and suffering he has inflicted. The use of black and white colors in the final slide changes the mood of the poem and portrays the pain dogs suffer when they are abandoned. Together, the change in color in the last panel and abrupt change in sentence layout impact the overall comic, because they draw attention to the final slide, in which the owner leaves. Pet abandonment is a growing issue that Stoner raises awareness for through her comic. Pets are friends and commitments, we cannot love them and leave them. As owners, we are there entire world and must treat them with the care and love they deserve.
