THE OBSTACLES THAT IMPEDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRAZIL IN THE CONTEMPORARY ERA A...
Apocalyptic Vietnam
1. Extra! Extra! The
Four Horsemen
Set out for Vietnam!
Apocalyptic subtext hidden within
Political Cartoons of Vietnam War
By: Angela Y. Ho
2. Goals
• Look for apocalyptic references within
political cartoons published during the
Vietnam War
• Reasoning: War brings associations of
apocalypse
3. Vietnam War:
• 7 May 1954 - 30 April 1975
• USA & South Vietnam VERSUS North
Vietnam (Vietcong) & China
• Agent Orange - herbicide used to destroy
crops & forests
• Conscription
• Both USA & China have A-Bomb
• USA evacuated Saigon, NLF moved in
5. And there went out another
horse that was red: and power
was given to him that sat thereon
to take peace from the earth, and
that they should kill one
another: and there was given
unto him a great sword.
-Revelation 6:4
6.
7. After the Victory
6/12/1972, Choe (Nguyen Hai Chi)
• Emaciated limbs and bullets in the bowl suggest famine and hunger
• And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come
and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a
pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four
beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley
for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. -Revelation 6:5-6:6
• Bullets in the bowl and the skeletal state of her hands could also suggest death.
• And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death,
and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part
of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the
beasts of the earth. – Revelation 6:8
• She is Unelect, as the Elect would not be hungry
• They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light
on them, nor any heat. –Revelation 7:16
• Judging by the hairstyle, the skeletal figure is female, which goes along with the
misogynistic trend of the Book of Revelation.
8.
9. "Let this session of congress be known as the session - which declared all-out war on
human poverty" - President Johnson, January 8 1964
12/01/1965, Vicky (Victor Weisz)
• The bombs can be the hail and fire that was cast down by the first angel
• The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood,
and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and
all green grass was burnt up. -Revelation 8: 5
• It could also be the star that brought man-eating locusts to the world. The star
would be the bomb, which explodes and gives off a great deal of light, like a star. It
also brings great destruction and gives off much smoke, obscuring the sun and the
darkening the ear. The locust might symbolize the plague of American soldiers.
• And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth:
and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the
bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great
furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the
pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was
given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. –Revelation 9:1-9:3
• The woman’s hallowed cheekbones hints at great hunger, or famine.
• And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and
see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of
balances in his hand.And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A
measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and
see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. –Revelation 6:5-6:6
10.
11. ‘Oh-h-h UN where are you-u-u-u?’
5/22/1964, William Papas
The robed Grim Reaper is the symbol of Death.
• The balance shown is also a characteristic of famine, who is said to weigh out the wheat
and the barley.
• And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see.
And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in
his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of
wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not
the oil and the wine.–Revelation 6:5-6:6
• Johnson, who wears the loincloth, carries a burden on his shoulders and is staggering is
a symbol of Jesus about to be crucified.
12.
13. “Allow me to introduce an old friend of mine.”
05/24/1964, William Papas
• Dien Bien Phu was the location of a major battle during the First Indochina War. It set
up the events that led to the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam War.
• The Grim Reaper, the symbol of death, is shown as a solemn warning to Nixon who
does not recognize him.
• That the Grim Reaper is said to be “an old friend” means that the French were very
familiar with death, from the first war.
14.
15. On the Lip of Hell
4/2/1954, David Low
• The White House is teetering on the edge, about to fall into hell,
symbolizing that the decisions about to be made could be what makes the
president elect or unelect.
• The angel is fishing with an olive branch, a traditional symbol of peace. The
cartoon is a plea for Congress to make a peaceful resolution.
24. Bibliography
• Choe. “After the Victory.” Cartoon. Vietnam Era Editorial Cartoons. Wellesley. Web. 13 Dec.
2009. <http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/Vietimages/Cartoons/choe.htm>
• Katz, Harry. Cartoon America Comic Art in the Library of Congress. New York: "Harry N.
Abrams, Inc.", 2006. Print.
• Low, David. “On the Lip of Hell.” Cartoon. British Cartoon Archive. Web. 14 Dec. 2009.
<http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/browse/cartoon_item/anytext=vietnam?page=3>
• Papas, William. “Allow me to introduce an old friend of mine.” Cartoon. British Cartoon
Archive. Web. 14 Dec. 2009. <http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/browse/cartoon_item/
anytext=vietnam?page=403>
• Papas, William. “Oh-h-h UN where are you-u-u-u” Cartoon. British Cartoon Archive. Web. 14
Dec. 2009. <http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/browse/cartoon_item/anytext=vietnam?page=36>
• "Vietcong troops attack the US Embassy in Saigon." Cartoon. Illingworth Exhibition: Cartoons of
the 1960s. Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru The National Library of Wales, 2004. Web. 14 Dec.
2009. <http://www.llgc.org.uk/illingworth/illingworth_s060.htm>.
• Weisz, Victor. “Let this session of Congress be known as the session-which declared all-out
war on human poverty.” Cartoon. Vietnam Era Editorial Cartoons. Wellesley. Web. 13 Dec. 2009.
<http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/Vietimages/Cartoons/brit.htm>
