Twisted Trump
Elections and the political discourse that follows are perfect opportunities for cartoonists to showcase their talents. The forthcoming election is no exception. In the political cartoon created by John Darkow, he effectively uses the political cartoonists’ tools of exaggeration, captioning and labeling, symbolism, analogy, and irony to highlight the paradox between Trump’s political views and his business interests (Analyzing).
In true cartoonist fashion, Darkow exaggerates some of Donald Trump’s features. Darkow’s caricature magnifies the extent to which Trump’s hair extends beyond his forehead and the degree to which his bottom lip pouts. The exaggeration of the hair serves to identify the hanging individual as Donald Trump, but the exaggeration of the pouting lip, a telltale sign of Trump’s displeasure, serves to express the degree to which Mr. Trump is aggravated both with his business partners and with the reception he has received over his stance on Mexican immigration.
Mr. Darkow’s captioning and labeling, especially his use of dialogue and thought bubble, allow the reader to identify the sources that are at odds, as well as gain insight into the characters’ views. The sources that are at odds are the Hispanics at whom the “Mexic[an] Slurs” are wielded, the “Business Partners,” and Donald Trump, himself. The dialogue expressed by one of the business partners, “That piñata looks almost life-like,” hints at the notion that Trump’s racial slurs may be causing him to lose ground in regards to his political aspirations as well as in regards to future business dealings. The underlining of the word “almost” accentuates Trump’s lessening vitality both in the race and in business. And, Trump’s thought bubble which states: “Yeah, right…piñata!” expresses Trump’s pitying belief that people will use any excuse to take a swing at him.
The swing taken at Trump in the cartoon is being applied by a bat-toting individual in baseball apparel whose shirt reads: “Business Partners.” The bat symbolizes the thumping that business associates would like to give Trump in response to his hurtful comments toward Hispanics, as the comments negatively impact businesses associated with Trump in the form of boycotts being waged against Trump-associated businesses. Another symbol that Darkow employs is that of the tree. As Trump is being hung by the tree, and the tree represents “Mexic[an] Slurs,” Trump is literally being hung by his offensive “Mexic[an] Slurs.” These slurs include comments such as the one spoken during his inaugural campaign speech in which he made the sweeping generalization that Hispanics are “bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people” (Barajas).. The most prominent symbol is, however, the piñata. As the original piñata was a brightly colored 7-point star that represented temptation and the seven deadly sins, Trump as a piñata symbolizes both the caution with which he should be approached and a person that should be vanquished (Barbezat).
Analogies can be drawn from the symbols that Darkow uses, as well. For instance, in the same way as one may wield their power through the swing of a bat, the business interests will exercise strategies that demonstrate their power over Donald Trump’s negative influence. Additionally, as an established tree is unlikely to randomly vanish, nor are the memories of Trump’s racial slurs likely to vanish from public memory anytime soon. Lastly, just as piñatas are left dangling empty after they have provided amusement, so will Donald Trump be left “hanging” once his political posturing has reached its conclusion
.The last political cartoonist tool that John Darkow utilizes, and effectively so, is irony. Donald Trump epitomizes the successful businessman. He typically makes wise choices that put him in a position to capitalize on opportunities. His alignment with the heated political topic of immigration, however, may cost him the election, and, moreover, it may cost him dearly in the field of business. The irony as displayed in the political cartoon would be the “Business Partners” that are applying the beating, not the Hispanics. Another ironic example is Darkow’s vision of Trump dangling from the tree while the “Business Partners” are firmly planted on the ground. Typically, Donald Trump is in charge and those around him are subordinated. However, by Darkow displaying Trump hanging from a tree, Darkow emphasizes both Trump’s vulnerability and the “Business Partners’” control, truly a twist whereas Donald Trump is concerned.
Together, John Darkow’s use of the tools of exaggeration, captioning and labeling, symbolism, analogy, and irony combine to appeal to the readers’ pathos, as the readers react to the use of the word “slurs,” and to demonstrate the author’s ethos, as Darkow’s convictions are clearly aligned with the wronged Hispanic population. The strongest mode of persuasion that Darkow uses, however, is his use of logos, or appeal to the logic of his readership. Darkow illustrates the paradox of Trump’s political views and his business interests as they cannot co-exist. While he may firmly believe that the country is in need of border control — and he may very well be correct in this notion — the words that he has chosen to convey his beliefs are detrimental to his future business success.
[Photo, Donald Trump Signs The Pledge by Michael Vadon, licensed under CC BY 2.0]
