Satire during WWII Essay Example

Satire is defined as the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. It can be used to bring humor or lightness to darker subjects. Many authors use satire when creating political cartoons which mostly highlight certain issues during that time. Doctor Seuss, a very famous author, was known for his many political cartoons that ridiculed things like WWII and Adolf Hitlers reign. He uses many satirical devices in them that help to call attention to the many faults of that period. The satire written during WWII highlights the flaws of this time, including the reign of Hitler and the mistreatment of the people.

Doctor suess’ political cartoons use satire to criticize and bring out the flaws of WWII. In a cartoon called “We always were suckers for ridiculous hats” it is abundantly clear that Seuss is trying to denounce Hitler. It is showing how Hitler is bringing a massive amount of negativity and damage to the people. One of the “sneetches” in the cartoon says to another “Get your ostrich bonnet here relieves Hitler headache.. Forget the terrible news you've read, your minds at ease in an ostrich head!” The author uses many satirical devices like exaggeration and symbolism to show the flaws during this time. Many writers and authors during WWII used humor to satirize Nazi Germany.  

Political cartoons are one of the ways that authors point out the flaws of periods in history. In the cartoon called “Don't let them carve their faces on our mountains” by Doctor Seuss, he calls attention to buying war bonds to support WWII. Mount Rushmore is a mountain that was created in the 20’s that has the faces of four U.S. presidents carved into it.  In this cartoon it’s made clear if Hitler takes over he will have his own face carved into the mountain. Seuss is urging the people to buy more war bonds to help the war cause and stop Hitler from “carving his own face” into the mountains. This can be seen in the cartoon where it says “Don’t let them carve those faces onto our mountains..Buy war bonds and stamps!” The author uses satirical devices like incongruity and symbolism to urge the purchasing of war bonds. The use of satire during this time period was heavily incorporated in political cartoons such as this in order to call attention to the urgency of supporting the war. 

Satire can be seen in many different forms, political cartoons are a good way of bringing attention to or calling someone or something out. In Seuss’ political cartoon called “Adolf the Wolf'' it is made clear that he is trying to bring awareness to the damage Hitler is doing. Foriegn children were treated very poorly at the time. The wolf in this cartoon is representative of Hitler who is “eating” the children. In this cartoon it says “...And the wolf chewed up the children and spit out their bones…But those were Foreign Children and it didn't really matter.” Seuss uses many satirical strategies in this cartoon like exaggeration and symbolism. In this political cartoon the author uses satirical devices to convey the seriousness of Hitler reign and the danger he brought upon so many.