Red, A Color That Runs

     With the recent rise and worldwide publicity of the Drug Cartel violence in Mexico, it was not difficult to find a political cartoon on this topic.  I selected this cartoon because there are no words.  There is no need for words.  The image consists of a Soldier painting the country of Mexico in red with a rag that appears to be an article of clothing and a stick.  From what we know, we can assume that the soldier is a Drug Cartel soldier. 

     The rhetorical tool of Substitution is used in this cartoon.  This visual element is used to resemble something that is visually absent.  In this case, Mexico painted in red signifies the amount of blood is shed, and the amount of lives lost in Mexico due to drug cartel violence.  The Mexican Cartel soldier painting shows that he is the one responsible for the deaths in Mexico.  One thing to note is that the soldier is not done painting.  It appears as though he is continuing to paint and looking to begin to paint an outline of the United States.  This signifies that the violence in Mexico is beginning to spill over to the United States.  This also represents an Indexical Sign.  This topic is changing over time.  At one point in this cartoon, the soldier began painting Mexico at the bottom, but over time he has finished the entire country.  Now, it appears that he is continuing to paint the United States with red.  By combining red paint and the country of Mexico, the rhetorical tool of Fusion is implemented.  With Fusion, two things are merged to create a metaphor.  The two things here are red paint and Mexico.  The metaphor they are creating is that Mexico is painted with blood. 

     These rhetorical tools are all used purposely.  The metaphor that Mexico is filled with blood is used as a form of pathos.  The illustrator meant to evoke emotion from their drawing.  By associating death and blood with a country, normally we all feel some sort of sympathy for them.   When the soldier continues to paint what will soon appear to be the United States, the audience should then feel concerned or scared.  The audience should feel concerned or scared because the illustrator is showing that this violence will eventually spill over

     With this being said, the political cartoon certainly hit a soft spot for me.  Considering that I live so close to the border, I find this cartoon to be especially true.  The message the illustrator was going for was certainly presented correctly.  The violence across the border is brutal, and it will eventually spill over.