TOW #22: Political Cartoon

http://www.newyorker.com/politics/cartoons#slide=5

The New Yorker published a political cartoon with two men in an ambulance. The one man says to the man who is holding a man on a stretcher: "This guy's organ-donor card specifies 'for any deserving conservative.'" The black-and-white cartoon is aiming toward the democratic party showing how republicans are self-centered and almost selfish. The illustrator of the cartoon doesn't reveal the face of the person who is lying on the stretcher. I think the cartoonist does this in order to keep his or her argument central, and not have the audience focus on the race or age of the person who is hurt. The cartoon is very simple, but the caption makes the audience think a lot about the situation. By saying that the organ-donor car specifies for "any deserving conservative" the cartoonist is able to directly attack the conservative party, but while adding the word "deserving" the cartoonist allows the democratic party to feel as though they are being attacked by these people as well. Overall, the cartoonist's diction plays a major role in the effectiveness of the cartoon.