Political Cartoon 3 Paragraph Analysis

Lalo Alcaraz cartoon of Yalitza Aparicio: Depicting the global issue of the degradation of
human justice and liberty in society by corruption in the political powers.
In this cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz, symbolism plays an

important role in establishing the global issue of
degradation of justice and liberty in society through
corruption in the political powers. Firstly, the cartoonist
emphasises the symbolism of justice through the statue
of nemesis or Lady Justice as shown to be in flames to
depict the degradation of justice in society. This effect of
this is to give us a sense of lawlessness in
contemporary society as Lady Justice refers to the court
of law and symbolises justice for all; therefore when the
statue burns it gives off the sense that even the origin of
where justice and law came from are getting diminished
through the corruption in political powers. A second way
in which symbolism is used is to show the corruption of
political power through the US government buildings or
monuments in the silhouette backdrop. The greyness of
the backdrop and the position of the silhouette being
behind the statue symbolises the dark and corrupt
schemes that the government pull behind the scenes;
this illustrates how the government are behind the
situation of degradation of human justice and liberty - it
is like they are burning the justice themselves through
the sins that they have committed and cowering behind
their government buildings in the back. The symbolism
Lalo Alcaraz uses allows the audience to be exposed to the perpetrators to the degradation of
justice and liberty in society.
Alcaraz also shows that irony plays an important role in creating the global issue of degradation
of justice and liberty in society by corruption in the political powers. Firstly, the cartoonist
emphasises on the wording below the statue. Below the statue, Lady justice is captioned as
“Our Lady”. This effect shows the irony between the statue of Lady Justice in flames and the
caption because the degradation of justice is from the result of human corruption and through
the usage of the word ‘our’ shows the irony that the government is burning themselves (burning
their own sense of justice away). Another way in which irony is used to show the global issue is
through the government buildings at the back, in comparison to the burning Lady Justice. The
effect shows that despite the government symbolises justice and supposedly to protect the
country; however, the government aren’t doing any of that as shown in the cartoon. It is
because of the irony that the government is virtuous but still commit so many crimes that are
unjust as corrupted government officials exploit their citizens to gain access to power and
money. The usage of irony exposes the lies and crimes that the government has exploited in the
fake name of justice.
Alcaraz also portrays analogy as an important aspect in formulating the global issue of
degradation of justice and liberty in society by corruption in the political powers. Firstly, the
Alcaraz emphasises the analogy between order and justice and chaos and corruption. This
effect is shown through the flames shrouding the statue of Lady Justice. This effect gives off the
sense that the cartoonist is drawing comparisons between justice and chaos through the
inflamed Lady Justice. The flames symbolise chaos and corruption and Lady justice symbolises
justice and order, and by adding them together with the flames engulfing the statue, it suggests
the degradation of justice are imminent in our society and corruption is taking over the virtue of
justice that shouldn’t be dampened by the fires of turmoil. A second way in which analogy has
been used is to depict the diminishing of justice in society is through the colour saturation
between the statue and the gloomy background. This effect shifts the audience attention to the
statue instead of the background because of the warm colours contrasting over the grey
backdrop of the government buildings; this illustrates to the audience that the truth of the
government actions is their corruption upon society instead of the so-claimed justice that they
propagandised as and segregating the government from the notion of justice. The analogy that
Alcaraz uses allows the audience to imagine what it would be like if justice is diminished
overtime through constant political corruption upon our society.

Political Cartoon 3 Paragraph Analysis

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Political Cartoon 3 Paragraph Analysis

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Lalo Alcaraz cartoon of Yalitza Aparicio: Depicting the global issue of the degradation of

human justice and liberty in society by corruption in the political powers.

In this cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz, symbolism plays an

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