Gaitan 1

Hugo Gaitan
Professor Batty
English 113
15 December 2014
Heartless Hitler Revised
In a cartoon published by Punch or the London Charivan, illustrated by Ernest Howard
Shepard in 1940, Hitler is physically holding earth in his hands in a malicious way. Its obvious
it is Hitler because he is wearing a traditional Nazi uniform, hair slicked to the side, and has the
signature Hitler mustache. His arms cannot fully hug the model earth, but his hands are on both
Western Europe and America. His hands look slightly oversized for his body but it is probably to
add emphasis to his crooked fingers, which makes him look uneasy. He is looking right at the
United States with a look that is saying, You will be mine. This persuades that eventually,
Hitler would have conquered the whole world. Germany shall never be encircled was the
caption. This cartoon proves that if not for his suicidal death, the entire world and population
would be labeled German. The hatred of another race is ridiculous considering how we are all
one race: the human race.
Hitler is holding Earth with evil intentions, ruthlessness, and without any regret. They are
all attributes nobody nowadays can possibly possess. His concentration and angry facial
expression detail that he is flat out crazy. The idea of exterminating an entire population
(primarily Ashkanazi Jews) is surreal. Killing a population based off physical appearance to
conclude a dominant people is just blasphemous. In an article written by Brent Staples titled
Black Men and Public Spaces, he demonstrates the struggles of being an African man and
having to deal with the stereotypes of stealing, murdering, and drug dealing. Although Jews were

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never known as the violent type throughout history, Hitler found them as a threat. The concept of
being judged by appearance correlates to Hitlers act of exterminating people because Hitler
executed thousands of people based off their looks.
Brent Staples, aware that he was seen as inferior, acknowledged, I had to make myself
seem less threatening(186). Embracing an evil stereotype will probably lead to death, so Staples
took the opposite route and tried people making feel safe, primarily at night, to ensure his safety
and a sense of security to whomever was around him at the time. Hed whistle Beethoven
melodies to let people know he was around, shake his keys, dress appropriately (not as a
stereotypical young black thug) as in bright colors like a preppy school boy, and essentially
change his whole personality for the ignorant people around him. This relates to the bigger
picture of the cartoon. Hitler is holding earth, which carries innocent people being persecuted
because his perception of them is evil.
Nowadays, its very common to hear about a white male killing a black man because he
seems suspicious or looked like he was going to commit a crime. An example of this would be
the recent killing of Trayvon Martin, where a white man killed Trayvon, an African American,
because he was allegedly wearing a black hoody, which mad him look like a gangster. The white
man, George Zimmerman, got away with murder and will not serve any jail time. Some might
argue he is getting preferential treatment because he is not a minority.
The fact that there are many unstable elements to this cartoon is intriguing. Hitler is
trying to hold a globe, but does not seem to have a good grip. He is holding it from both sides at
the top, when it would be easier to hold it from the bottom. The globes stand is at an angle,
along with Hitlers legs, hair, and arms. Artists tend to use these strategies to persuade viewers to
sense that something is not right. Also, Hitler is wearing a satchel around his left hip. It appears

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to be slightly opened and contains an oval-like object. From observing this photo, one could
assume it is a grenade. This could mean that whatever he is up to, it will blow up eventually
because what he is doing is not right. In this cartoon, Hitlers intentions are not right and his
consequences supposedly meaning his grenades, are perfectly placed on his left hip,
resembling something is essentially wrong.
As heartless as Hitler was, nobody could doubt the love he had for Germany. Though it
was not his native land, he managed to climb the ranks from war hero, to chancellor, and finally
a supreme ruler. From the way he sees the world to the way he holds it, there is no doubt his
ultimate goal was to rule the globe. From Europe to America, and everything else in his vision,
he hoped to conquer, but faced the consequences of figuratively blowing up. Evil, prideful,
selfish, and powerful are all words that can come out of this cartoon.