Hopelessly Bound to the Stake was drawn by Bernard Gillam and published by Keppler & Schwarzmann on August 13th, 1883, in Puck magazine, where it was featured on the front cover of volume 13. The cartoon depicts a man hopelessly bound to the powers that be; in this case it’s the monopolies. Unable to free himself and escape from his struggles – Long hours, miniscule pay, and poor working conditions – he reverts to find a loophole in order for his conditions to be met, evidently by forming a union. Although forming a union isn’t blatantly evident in the cartoon it could be interpreted that way based on the time period and the feud going between the working class and the industrialists. By forming a union, the workers publicly took a stand, advocating…show more content… So why not test out the theory. If we break down the cartoon into two elements – verbal and visual – and then break down each of those elements, then we’ll truly be able to conceptually grasp the purpose behind the drawing. First, we have our verbal component; a man labeled “workman” tied to a stake labeled “monopoly”; and two of many pictured industrialists blowing flames labeled “Depew” and the other “Monopoly press”. Next, we have the visual component; flames rising from the burning wood highlighted by the faces of industrialists – Jay Gould, William H. Vanderbilt, Russell Sage, Roscoe Conkling, Cyrus W. Field, Whitelaw Reid, and Chauncey Depew. However, the eyes’ of the workman are also looking up to the sky with his suffrage, searching for answers to his misfortune. Obviously, the visual component is much more complex than the verbal, but it also enlightens you with more detailed information, simply because there’s more to be interpreted. Although, in the end, the verbal and visual are infinitely connected; the belt providing insight to who’s strapped to the post labeled “monopoly”. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have any idea who’s being burned and what’s holding them back. So, all in all, they each factor into each other providing the viewer with vivid detail and complementary insight, combining to give us a great
