The purpose of literature is for the author to convey his or her thoughts to the audience. Along with their thoughts, the authors want the reader to feel the mood they are conveying. Contrary to what one would think, a visual text can do the same thing. This is unique because there are no words to convey the author’s thoughts or mood.  In visual texts, the drawings do the talking. The facial expressions of the characters, the placement of objects, and color schemes can do the talking for the author. When these aspects are repeated it is called a motif. 

Time change is the most predominant visual motif in the visual text “The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation” by Jonathan Hennessey and Aaron McConnell. The second and third tiers of the comic contain the visual motif of time change. This change in time is shown through two ways: color scheme and the events occurring in the foreground of the comic. This visual motif seen in the second and third tiers can also be applied to later tiers in the text. 

At first glance of the second tier, Father Time is pictured on the left with women and slaves behind him. He is standing in an aggressive posture, and looks to be intimidating the white, upper class men on the right. Behind the white men is a safe containing an American flag. This scene shows the powerful, white men in control of the country. This is because they are the only ones allowed to vote and hold government positions. Which allows them to control what laws are passed and how the government is run. In this tier, the flag sticking out of the safe shows the struggle of the white, upper class men to keep their power. They are intimidated by Father Time because they are running out of time before they lose their absolute power of the country. Along with the events that are occurring in the foreground, the color scheme used in this tier can also show the visual motif of the changing times.

Father Time and the people behind have a red and orange tint to their characters, while the powerful men are a bluish color. Reds, oranges, and yellows are historically warm colors. While the colors on the opposite side of the color wheel are cold, such as blue, green and gray. The presence of the warm colors on the side of Father Time gives a presence of an uplifting and overpowering mood. The colors portray the minorities to have a high morale, which is necessary for the motif of changing times to be seen. The colors show the ferocity of the lower class citizens and their urge to be equal with the aristocrats. On the contrary, the white aristocrats are drawn with cooler colors. This leads to a sense of fear or sadness within the group of men. They have low morale, and they are in a sad state of mind knowing their power is going to be gone. 

The third tier shows a completely different scene than the prior. Father Time’s hourglass ran out of time and so did the aristocrats holding the power. After the passing of two amendments, there was a shift in power from the rich, white men to anyone no matter race or gender. The 15th Amendment allows for people of any race to vote, and the 19th Amendment brought about women’s suffrage. With the passing of these amendments, everyone holds equal power to decide how the United States is governed. The events portrayed in the foreground show the flag out of the safe, symbolizing the release of power from the aristocrats. Not only do the events in this tier show the visual motif of changing times, but also the fact that everyone is the same purple color. This color defines everyone as equal because they all share the same mood and have the same feelings.

“The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaption” contains the visual motif that change occurs over time. The events in the foreground of the second tier provide the sense of upcoming change, and the colors provide more detail as to the shift in power throughout the country. This can be seen as true with the examination of the third tier. This tier shows the change in power after amendments were made. Once again, the colors and people in this tier provide evidence for the change because of the same neutral color and inclusion of all genders and races.
