As the Old Lighthouse Goes So Goes the Elephant

As the Old Lighthouse Goes So Goes the Elephant

Frank Miller (American, 1925–1983)

Ink and pencil on paper

Gift of Fred Kammeier. In the permanent collection, Brunnier Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

UM86.558

Frank Miller drew cartoons illustrating political happenings of the times for the Des Moines Register from 1953 to 1983. His work earned a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning from his depictions of concepts surrounding nuclear war and the dangers that can arise when two sides become locked in their views. As in this image, opposing political parties take on their symbolic zoomorphic forms. How does the characterizations of entire political parties as one animal symbol affect the perception of that group of people? Does this grouping of individuals into involuntary categories create further division?