Keep These Hands Off Poster Analysis

Ronald Hudleston Ms. Britton Eng.102-13 Feb. 11, 2009 “Keep These Hands Off” (Odell) a Canadian World War II propaganda poster, and support the war effort. Propaganda posters appeal to basic human emotions in an effort to influence the opinions and behavior of a specific group of people. the two afore mentioned propaganda posters, the idea of the poster was that ones enemies, in this case the Japanese and Nazi Germany would possibly be able to infiltrate their backyards and disrupt their livelihood, unless the citizens purchased war bonds. The war bonds are the “Keep These Hands Off” (Odell), is a War World II propaganda poster created in Canada in the 1940’s. The artist employed the use of many visual elements as well as some textual elements to convey his
message and convince the Canadian citizens to purchase what he dubbed Victory Bonds. The poster features a Mother holding an infant child set on a calming blue background.
Out of the top left corner and the bottom right corner of the poster, emerge a pair of sinister black hands that have on them the symbol that represents the countries of Japan and Nazi Germany. In the top left corner of the poster are the words “Keep These Hands Off” (Odell). Across the very bottom of the poster, in large, bold white lettering read the words “Buy the new Victory Bonds” (Odell). The second World War II poster entitled “Don’t Let That Shadow Touch Them” (Smith) is an American Propaganda poster that drew its influence from the previous Canadian poster. The underlying principle of this poster is the same as the Canadian poster, to sell war bonds. The grass with the image of a Nazi swastika in a shadowy black color. Printed across the bottom of In the poster “Keep These Hands Off” (Odell) the use of the blue background is meant to convey a sense of calm and represent a celestial existence. Layered atop the blue background is found the image of a mother cradling an infant child. This image is included by the artist to appeal to the sense of love a person might have for his or her own
family. There are two sinister looking black hands emerging from either side of the poster. The positioning of the hands is deliberate as to appear to be encapsulating the mother and the child. The use of the black color on the hands is to represent evil and instill fear into all that view them. On the back of each of the hands the artist has included the symbol of the countries that are to be viewed as the enemy. Ginger said, “The black hands represent the wickedness of the Japanese and the Nazi’s” (Hudleston) The words “Keep These Hands Off” (Odell) are printed on the left side of the poster from the top down to the side of the mothers head, so that the reader will see the caption easily. At the bottom of the poster written in large, bold white lettering to attract the readers attention are the words “Buy the new Victory Bonds”. The second of the two posters is a poster entitled “Don’t Let That Shadow Touch Them” (smith). This American Propaganda poster got its inspiration from the Canadian poster discussed in the previous paragraph. The artist of this poster uses green grass as the background to represent the freedoms that all Americans have grown accustomed to enjoying. There are three young children playing with their toys on the grass. The artists’ intent with the use of this image commented that “the two older children seem to look troubled by something off to their left that has caught their attention.” (Baxter) There is an image of a black Nazi swastika on the grass just behind the children. The artist placement of the Nazi swastika is vital in that it seems to suggests that without the sale of war bonds, the enemy may be capable of infiltrating the backyards of Americans. The words “Don’t Let That Shadow Touch Them” (Smith) are written in bold white lettering set against a black background for the purpose of drawing the readers’ eyes towards them. Just below those words in very large, bold bright yellow and white lettering read the words “Buy WAR BONDS”. The bright yellow color is used on these words to set them apart from the other words on the poster. This is done to convey to the reader the purpose of the poster. Hopefully this analysis has made it clear how propaganda is used, and how a simple poster or drawing can be utilized to convey such a strong sentiment. In this case the purpose was to sale war bonds, but not all propaganda is for such gloomy purposes. Sometimes the message and for a variety of reasons. During World War II the main reason for propaganda was to promote the sale of bonds to fund the war effort. Propaganda is also used in commercials to convince people to contribute monies to charities that feed and clothe children in under garments with flies encircling their bodies. Another example of a simple image that conveys a The main difference between propaganda in the 1940’s and today is the method in which it is delivered. There are many ways to reach people today that was not available in the 1940’s such as television, and the internet, even by text messaging people on their cellular telephones. Baxter, Brittany, Personal interview, 9 February 2009, Art Institute of Dallas, [e-mail] Hudleston, Ginger, Personal interview, 8 February 2009 Business Major, University of Louisiana, Monroe, [e-mail] Odell, G.K., Keep These Hands Off, National Archives and Records Administration, 29 January 2009, http://www.archives.gov/exhibits Smith, Lawrence B., Don’t Let That Shadow Touch Them, National Archives and Records Administration, 29 January 2009, http://www.archives.gov/exhibits