Slide 49

• The man’s long nose could be associated with deception- he’s putting on a front, pretending to be a “good” guy. This idea could also be linked to Ferzat’s encounter with the president, and how Al-Asad initially liked his art and claimed to support the revolution + the idea freedom speech, but in reality, he was being deceptive.
• The man’s uniform is a symbol of the Syrian military/forces- those who are taking control over the country.
• This encounter of the man and the young boy who is drawing could be symbolising Ferzat’s relationship with the president. Following Ferzat’s cartoons in which he brought attention to the president, he got beaten up, resulting in his hands being completely shattered. Likewise, this man is pretending to show interest in this young boy’s work, although it may be inferred that he actually wants to kill the boy.
• The shadow in the back could be representative of the desires or imagination of the man in the figure.
• The black and white contrast could symbolise the truth and the lies, or the good and the evil.
• The boy is drawing a bird- symbol of peace, beauty and happiness. The boy could be dreaming of a democracy and the infinite possibilities that come with a democratic society. However, this seems to be triggering a reaction from the man as though he is against the boy’s view- hence why he wants to kill him. Once again, this could allude to Ferzat’s own story.
• The flag being the only colored part of the cartoon brings focus to the fact that this situation is taking place in Syria- perhaps and allusion to the president.
• The painting on the left side of the background illustrates the thoughts of the man. It can be seen that his mind is filled with violent thoughts with the painting depicting a bomb, a skull, a knife, a plane, a gun etc.

Slide 39

• Through the use of speech bubbles, Ferzat is bringing focus to the fact that this poor Syrian man is only preoccupied by his hunger and lack of access to food (despite there being missile bombs in the background)
• The cartoonist focuses on small details about the male’s physical appearance to illustrate him as poor/living in poor conditions. This can be seen as his hair is messy, while also being bare foot on the streets.
• Orientation- the positioning of the viewer is high/the image is depicted from a high angle -> this makes the man look very small relative to the bombs -> illustrates the power that the bombs/Syrian forces have over this man. The bigger the object, the more importance it has-> dominates.
• The abundance of bombs brings focus to how powerful the military is. The Syrian people feel powerless, and they feel as though they are in a battle of many vs. one.
• All of the bombs being identical also allows Ferzat to convey his idea of all the dictators being the same- they all have the same intentions and priorities for their country (not prioritising their people’s wellbeing, but only their rule)