Satire Analysis - Gun Control

Carol Elsen, in her graphic organizer called the “Ironometer,” defines satire as “fine raillery or ‘corrective ridicule.'”                          

                                                                       

Upon first glance, this satirical cartoon makes fun of the fact that people across the nation, specifically parents, view the lack of gun control as the problem that leads to major shootings, such as school massacres. However, not only do they blame lack of gun control, but they also do nothing about their children playing violent video games (hello irony!), which potentially nurtures an aggressive mindset that can lead to such crimes.

Now don’t get me wrong here; the author isn’t “correctively ridiculing” the blame on loose gun control legislation. Rather, they are mocking those who claim that such laws are the root of the problem but don’t do anything to help change this. Instead, they make such claims while their own kids keep playing video games (might I remind you that the parents pay for these games) which feature people doing the exact same thing as what they see on the news – mass shootings.  

Parents are not the only ones who exhibit this hypocritical mindset. Politicians are the masters of this craft, of course, as demonstrated in the cartoon below.

This cartoon mocks the false claims that politicians make when they refer to stricter anti-gun laws. We often hear on the news promises of better legislation to put an end to the high levels of gun-related crimes. But when was the last time they did something about it? Through the use of satire, this cartoon illuminates the way politicians feel about the subject – they disregard it and treat it as an inferior issue, having a “there’s-bigger-issues-than-this” attitude. How long will it take for real improvement to be made?