Instrumental: Here we see Lincoln in a relaxed pose, in no difficulty as he considers “his chance of re-election”. Also in the picture, there is an African American man who is relaxing as well while reading a paper. The boy who is pictured under Lincoln is meant to depict his son Tad and he appears to be eating uncontrollably while his father neglects him.
Narrative: The events leading up to this depiction would have given Lincoln the ability to be confident in his chances for re-election. At the time of this picture’s publication, however, the election was anything but certain. The Union armies were in a series of stalemates that would eventually be solved, but at this point were in doubt. The fact is that Southerners considered him to be confident and they considered that confidence to be unfounded.
Iconic: First, the African American man in this picture would undoubtedly bring up a number of emotions for the reader. Since this was intended for a southern audience, it would be viewed with disdain that he was allowed in Lincoln’s private chambers during a time of leisure. The presence of an alcoholic beverage and the string tying it to the servant could imply that there was also a problem with drunkenness for Lincoln, even though in reality he did not drink.
Editorial: The overconfidence of Lincoln is central to this cartoon, but not the only commentary by the artist. There is also the supposed disorder of Northern society. The black man’s presence in the room would have showed the artist’s fellow southerners a society that exhibited an undesirable level of equality.
Indicative: The author of the image in question displays his values clearly through his work. Since he is in opposition to Lincoln, he shows disagreement with him by displaying him as a carefree, drunken, poor parent. The author’s values are the opposite of those qualities. As mentioned before, the author also clearly values the separation of the races, which he depicts Lincoln to reject.
Oppositional: The reader is supposed to view this cartoon as an indictment of the faulty leadership of the Northern president. It is essentially wartime propaganda. At a time when few in the south still hope for real victory, the intent seems to be to develop a sense of disdain for the opposition.
Reflexive: This cartoon creates a sense of pity in me for the author. He almost certainly has no personal experience that would lead him to draw a commentary of this sort, but he is searching for an edge against opposing side of a war. He also has prejudice that causes him to mock Lincoln for anything approaching equality, and that is truly pitiable.
With your oppositional statement, how are you opposing the image? I ask not as a judgement or critique, but only because I'm working to increase my understanding of this method of 'reading' an image. My previous understanding was that opposition was to stand in opposition to what the image was trying to portray, or to assert the oppositional forces that would stand against that image during the day of its publication.
ReplyDeleteOver all, I think you did something like I did. You are analysing an image that seems to be difficult to analyse. The breadth of ideas presented is almost like trying to take a sip out of the front-end of a fire hose; there is so much being presented that it becomes a little bit of an overload.