This cartoon, “Obama’s Snail” by Bruce Plante represents the situation that many Americans are facing to this day. That situation is the decrease in jobs during the recession, which leads to a slow come back in the U.S. economy.

In this picture, Obama is frantically trying to start the snail’s engines which are a symbol for jobs that are unoccupied. Getting the snail to move faster will make the U.S. economy progress, which is what the snail stands for, being one of the slowest animals. The environment the snail is in, grass and trees with no buildings in sight, shows what will happen in the future if the economy does not go back up. There will be no industries, factories, or other businesses making money for the country and Obama will be left alone, with no support, to fix the problem. The snail happens to be much bigger than Obama, representing the progress that needs to be done. It also makes Obama appear ridiculous which makes anyone who sees this cartoon laugh at him. His big ears also make him a laughing target for the viewers. By the look on the snail’s face, anyone could tell that he is miserable, maybe even sick, hence the word “recovery”, again representing the work that needs to be done to get the country back on top of things. The artist points out in this picture that Obama did not succeed in bringing up the economy as he said he would when he first took office.

Looking up cartoons on the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists’ website made it hard to pick a good cartoon. Bruce Plante drew this cartoon to make it look funny and easy to understand. Anyone could relate to this cartoon because it is so basic that even if the viewer had not been following politics very much, he or she would still understand it. The subject of the cartoon is something that is affecting every American in the country, making it lucid to the audience.

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/91501/