Cartoon: Syrian boy rescued in Aleppo

For my cartoon, I decided to pick this one with the depiction of the widely known Syrian boy that was rescued in Aleppo. I found this really interesting because of the clear contrast shown between the life of the people in the west and the kid. The people of "the West" also look like like adults and that even creates a bigger contrast in the picture. The little Syrian boy has blood on his face, dirty body, and looks sadly confused. Everything about the kid speaks of war, and to whom it inescapably affects. While the kid was exposed to such harshness, it is incredulous to see the adults playing Pokemon Go and even asking the kid if he knew the whereabouts of Pokemons. I mean, people are born into different regions of the world and some regions have a better standard of living than others. However, even with this knowledge, the contrast set by the age difference, visual difference between the subjects is too overwhelming to justify. For the kids (even adults in this case), social media/entertainment might be the center of their life. For the Syrian kid, his reality is a destroyed home, dead family members and so much unnecessary pain. The purpose of the cartoon is to raise awareness for the Western world and gather attention for what is happening outside of their country. This cartoon definitely has a bias, as it crudely exposes the indolence of the western world.

Cole, John. Syrian Boy Rescued in Aleppo. Digital image. The Denver Post. Scranton Times-Tribune, 23 Aug. 2016. Web. 24 Oct. 2016. <http://www.denverpost.com/2016/08/23/cartoons-of-the-day-syrian-boy-rescued-in-aleppo/>.