Celeste Wong

Dr. Bruce Lusignan

EDGE

Section: M 4:15

June 6, 2003

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Visuals as a Persuasive Tool for War

Nations all over the world constantly utilize various forms of media to rally support amongst its own people. Manuscripts, newspapers and radios were and still are of the many mediums through which political figures connect and communicate with civilians. Especially during a time of war, the government sets as one of its highest priorities, the goal of keeping its people adequately informed and behind their nation’s cause. One of the most popular and persuasive forms of propaganda has been war posters.

The famous age-old saying, “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words,” is the secret that lies behind why these posters were so powerful and successful in the first place. Even though we are looking at them many centuries later, we can still feel the impact and experience the intended effects of their depictions. As Americans, many have been exposed to a range of American war posters through various means such as a school history books.

There are few different war posters that are definitely worth taking a look at. Though at first glance they look extremely different, their main message is essentially the same: this war is necessary and we, as Americans, must do all that we can to help.

Here’s the first poster, entitled “Don’t Let That Shadow Them” courtesy of Lawrence B. Smith.

Lawrence B. Smith uses children’s innocence, helplessness and need for protection as the basis of his war poster. Through careful implementation of color and patriotic images, Smith is able to send a strong and convincing message to the American people in “Don’t Let That Shadow Touch Them.”

The setting of this picture is in an open field with the shadow of the swastika imprinted on the green grass. Coming out of the center of the picture, in a somewhat 3D fashion, are the figures of three children, one girl and two boys. The little girl has her hair nicely parted into two pigtail, and is wearing a red dress with white trimming. She is sitting on a rock in front of the two boys with a look of confusion on her face. One hand is lifted in the air in uncertainty, and the other hand is holding the arm of a doll in a blue blouse. Her doll is lying like a corpse with its face turned towards the ground, and the little girl’s eyes are fixated on the shadow of the swastika slowly inching over the doll’s body. The smaller boy is dressed in blue shorts and a red and white striped shirt. He is wearing a hate made out of a newspaper and is holding up a flag that’s pole he seems to have put together himself. The expression on his face is frightened, as he looks to the older boy for guidance and safety. The older boy with reddish brown hair is dressed more maturely in a white collared shirt, yellow west and brown pants. He is standing with a hand in front of the younger boy in a defensive and protective manner, and is holding a toy airliner in the other hand. His eyes, focused on something in the sky, are clearly worried. The effectiveness of this poster is much attributable to the artist’s tactful choice in color. The dominant yellow and green colors allude to a pleasant, sunny day in an open field. The three children are busy playing with toys as the black, threatening shadow of the swastika creeps up on them. Interestingly, the lettering of the words “Don’t Let That Shadow Touch Them Buy…” at the bottom of the page is white, wonderfully contrasting the black of the swastika as well as the black background of the words. So, if the swastika denotes evil, the message in white can be thought of as “good”: the right action or best solution to ward off the invading shadow.

Colors also lead the viewer in a path. At first glance, the eye is naturally drawn to the little girl, not only because she is at the very center of the illustration, but because of the red coloration of her socks, dress and lips. This color inclines us to the red strips of the American flag held by the smaller boy and, then to the reddish brown hair of the taller boy. Finally, the yellow in the vest of the taller boy primes us to look at the capitalized and purposely oversized yellow words: WAR BONDS.

The colors also evoke a definite American theme. The girl, in combination with the color of her doll, displays a brilliant red, white and blue. The smaller boy carries the American flag and wears a red and white striped shirt and blue shorts. The older boy, shows off these traditional colors on his plane.

The perspective of this picture is also of interest. The angle at which the audience is observing this scene is elevated, from the sky or even just the upstairs window of a house. The point is that the viewer is separated from these children by a distance. The shadow, however, is already there, and moving in on them. Anyone watching this scene can only continue watching helplessly. Although the older boy looks as if he will try to protect the two younger children, it is obviously going to be a futile attempt. It is already too late.

“Don’t Let That Shadow Touch Them" is a very disturbing illustration. The words themselves, even out of the context of this poster, are simply scary. However, while it is a clear warning, the wording hints to the fact that there is still something that can be done. The circumstances in this poster are meant to place blame on adults. A responsible person wouldn’t have let these children be put in such a situation in the first place. Children rely on their elders to watch for their safety and make choices for them. However, in this picture the future of these three children has come to an end. In this way, this poster puts a strong emphasis on the Aristotelian appeal to pathos. This poster was produced in 1942, when the Allies were not doing very well overseas. The upward glance of the older boy, also holding an airliner in his other hand, seems to be no coincidence. It alludes to the common fear of air raids. This poster sends the message that people need to do something now to protect their youth, to protect their future pilots, soldiers and mothers. If this situation reaches this point of this poster, it is already too late. People must act now to try to keep this shadow away from their young and to prevent the nightmarish scene depicted in Smith’s war poster from ever becoming a reality. They can do this by helping out their nation’s cause overseas. They can do this by buying war bonds.

While Smith’s picture in particular looks pretty tame and allows the onlooker to use more of his/her imagination to piece together the subliminal messages, there have definitely been war posters that are more clearly explicit in meaning and intent. One such example is W.A. Roger’s poster:

It is a caricature of Kaiser Wilhelm wiping his bloody hands on the American flag. His facial expression is nothing short of sadistic. The first thing a viewer notices when setting their eyes on this piece for the first time are his eyes. They carry an unmerciful and inhumane element to them. The next natural incline is to follow the path of his blank stare. Horrifyingly however, they direct the onlooker to the lifeless bodies of two children, a boy and a girl. While the boy is faced towards the ground with blood seeping from his head, a viewer can see the face of the little girl perfectly. Her eyes are half open and there is a pool of blood on her chest, right above her heart. The artist clearly is implying that Kaiser did this to the little girl. More shockingly however, that he did this with his bare hands. Rogers is clearly sending the message that the enemy kills ruthlessly and without compassion, even towards the defenseless. The depiction easily guides an observer to conclude that Kaiser Wilhelm is a beast.

Watching this scene from an elevated area above scene is a caricature of Uncle Sam. The expression on his face is that of shock. Interestingly, however, he and his companion are too far away to help these children. Rogers is forcefully suggesting that Uncle Sam, America, is standing by and just watching as this sadistic man kills their children, their future, and disgraces their flag, the symbol of their nation and patriotism. It is obvious that this portrait is meant to get people angry as well as to get people motivated to fight for their country, before a fictional scene such as this one can come anywhere close to reality. This picture typifies the anti-German propaganda of World War I.

Another explicitly clear and unsettling message can be seen in an unsigned poster that was part of a series designed to inform Americans about Nazism. Because of the brightness of the red in contrast to the other colors on the poster, the first object that comes to view is the Holy Bible, stabbed by a large cutting knife. The hand holding the knife has a glowing red swastika imprinted on its sleeve. Below this are the words “This is the Enemy.” The colors of the top portion of this poster, red and black, allude to the demonic and evil doings. Overall, this picture is meant to strike fear in the hearts of the people who maybe don’t want to fight this war. This picture puts the thought in their minds that this enemy is coming for them whether they like it or not. He is a merciless killer who has no morals and no God. The viewer is left with the thought that, if he doesn’t do something, this arm is going to come after him someday.

Artists have also come up with other angles to get soilders to enter the war: their women. For example, in one of Great Britain’s famous posters “Women of Britain Say –‘Go!’” by E. Kealey (1915) sends a message to women, reminding them that they can do something for this war; they can encourage their husbands, brothers and friends to fight. This is definitely a wonderful tactic. Men will not leave home easily if they know that they are putting their wives and family through pain and sorrow. The poster shouts out to women the point that they need to be strong, and that being tough and not shedding a tear in front of their men is their important part in the war. That’s why the woman’s face in this picture is so perfect. She looks like she is longing for her soldier to come back home to be with her. But instead of crying, she fights back the tears and looks onto the line of infantry men proudly, though aching inside.

Even the coloring in this poster is something that needs to be made note of. The lettering of the message of “Women of Britain Say –GO!” is in white. The only other thing depicted in white in the picture, is the woman. White is a significant color just because it is almost heavenly. Anything that looks heavenly is associated with being right, just and godly. Basically, the Kealey is telling women to strive to be this woman.

Other countries have their own war posters too. Here’s a glance at what Germans were seeing during various wars in throughout their country’s history.

Fritz Erler uses another approach to appeal to his fellow Germans. His “Help us win!” is probably the most widely distributed German poster of the war. It depicts an infantryman, with the steel helmet, a gas mask on his chest, and two “potato masher” grenades in his pouch. The barbed wire suggests a crown of thorns, but also the fortress mentality deeply ingrained in Germany at the time: the country is surrounded by enemies and is fighting a defensive war to break out of the encirclement. The mystical determination emanating from the soldier’s shining eyes established a motif that German political and war posters were to take up repeatedly until 1945. The coloring of this poster is definitely very different from that of the other posters that we’ve seen. This picture overall is very dark. The only thing that really stands out is the soldier’s eyes. In his eyes and face can be interpreted many messages. This man looks scared, fearful, but strangely hopeful and proud. Erler really sends out the message that even though this man is standing alone, and even though he may be afraid, he has not lost hope and he has not lost love for his country.

Lucian Bernhard’s “This is the way to peace –the enemy wants it so” was another popular poster at the time. In contrast to the defensive posture of the previous poster, here the artist throws down the gauntlet. Both, however, imply an unwanted war and a wish for peace. Bernhard’s mailed glove resembles the forceful calligraphy of his slogan. The wonderful thing about these two posters is that they both only depict one main character in the picture; the single man or the single arm. This choice by Bernhard really emphasizes and plays with the common fear that the German people were probably confronting at that time: the fact that they felt alone in world and that everyone outside of their homeland is ready to attack. Depicting a single focus softly, but surely, invites the viewer to join the man and to join the arm. It is almost pleading the onlooker to come participate so that the man and the owner of the single arm are not alone any longer.

For a little change in pace, this next one who’s artist is unknown, is called “Do you want this?...Defend our land.” This poster features a peasant farming scene. The sun is shining in the background. It is a portrait signifying happy times and prosperity. The land that the farmer is plowing looks new and the town in the background looks small. It is emphasizing the simple life as well as the simple pleasures: being able to own your own land and belong to a small close-knit community…and to have a little dog playfully barking and running by your side. So if the previous two posters didn’t succeed in pulling you into fighting for your nation, this one probably did the trick. It basically approaches it from a different angle; it appeals to the simple man by convincing him to fight for his simple dream.

Everything in these posters, from the wording to the coloring plays a huge part in the message that each individual depiction relays. It is amazing to know how the tiniest detail adds to the strength of its meanings.

It is clear that Adolf Hitler recognized the important role media can play in a war when he appointed Joseph Goebbels to the title of Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. Goebbels’ entire propaganda empire operated on the simple principle that people can be made to believe anything if “you tell it to [them] in the proper way.” There were five departments that this German team made its focus: administration, propaganda, broadcasting (radio), press, theater and adult education. The most interesting fact is that the government actually ordered a huge number of radios and made their price extremely inexpensive. In fact, Nazi Germany had the highest number of household radio ownership of any country in the world.

The point of this paper is to realize that in a war, there is propaganda on all sides. But most of all, not to believe everything that you hear or see. We, as civilians, should remember who actually controls the media as well as who controls the ideas behind the media. Furthermore, we must understand that the media is going to stay faithful and patriotic towards its government. While many of us look at the Germans and what Hitler did during his reign, and ask: Could the Germans not have been aware of the atrocity they were supporting? We should instead ask the question: Was Hitler just so clever with his propaganda that the German people were blind to the atrocity?

The same analysis can be used with the example of the British Empire. As they were slaughtering slaves, did the people believe that they were in the times of high colonization? In terms of their relationship with the Chinese, did they really believe that they were at the height of civilization?

The media, in all of its forms, is a very powerful tool. It hacks away at people’s consciousnesses and, if done correctly, it is very easy for people to believe that everything they hear, see or read is the absolute truth. Pictures, war posters and photographs are definitely of the most powerful. They ingrain images in their viewer’s minds that are more than impossible to forget sometimes. But, all in all, we must remember that it is just a tool; a medium that has been used centuries upon centuries because of its effectiveness. While we can look at these political masterpieces and acknowledge the message that they are voicing, it is important that people remember to interpret with a critical eye. It’s rather funny to know that the same pictures that are convincing you that one side is the good side and the other the bad; is the same thing that people on the other side of the world, and on the other side of a war, are seeing too –but of course with the heroes and the villains reversed.

Media and propaganda in general are very interesting to follow. But we should remember not to believe it all so quickly. It is important to bear in mind that the photographer or artist has a specific job to do. They must support their government and its actions. We have to keep in mind the question: who actually controls the media?