TOW #26: Visual Text (Fire!)

Goal: Less claim, more devices

A man called Hysteria, holding a bucket of water, rushes up a ladder while yelling, "Fire!" to quench the flames of the Statue of Liberty's torch. Herbert Block's "Fire!" was first published in the Washington Post on June 17, 1949. Block, commonly known as Herblock, was an American political cartoonist active from 1929 to 2001. His drawings often commented on foreign and domestic affairs from a liberal perspective, as demonstrated by this criticism of the xenophobia and communist hysteria beginning in post-WWII America. In "Fire," Block relies mainly on cultural memory to argue that America's anti-communist witch hunts were exaggerated to a fundamentally un-American level.

America has always been particular about its patriotism. There are certain phrases that can rile up a crowd--just chanting "USA," for example, is usually effective--but our most significant symbols are usually images like the American flag or the Liberty Bell. By incorporating the Statue of Liberty into is political cartoon, Block is directly attacking the symbol that America holds so dear. However, Block is not the one with the water bucket. It's Hysteria, meant to represent the sociopolitical panic caused by the fear of spreading communism, who is about the put out the eternal fire of liberty. Block juxtaposes this American idealism with reality to show the hypocrisy in defeating liberty for the sake of protecting it.

Although we today objectively know that this cartoon is accurate, Block's audience in the 1940's and 50's either already agreed with him or was too committed to the very conformist culture that Block is protesting to appreciate or be swayed by the cartoon. In fact, people probably began to suspect that Block was a communist in hiding. It was a bad time for political cartoons, but Block's reach into cultural memory made this one seemingly effective.