Visual Argument

Analysis using Burke's 5 components:
Agent: I searched and searched and searched for the artist of this piece, but I was unsuccessful. Whoever the artist is, he or she is the agent.
Act: This political cartoon's message is that there arent enough resources in the world to keep up with the ever increasing population.
Purpose: It is trying to bring to light the problematic ratio between resources and the population. I don't think the artist is fighting against birth, I think he is trying to create awareness of the problem in our current society.
Scene: Without being positive, I believe this cartoon was purely for Internet use. It was probably drawn because the artist realizes that the resources cannot provide for the entire population and he/she want's to make it universally known. The picture makes the viewers feel empathy because, even though the stork is carrying babies (which are cute and cuddley), the stork looks like he is in so much pain. Also, it makes the viewer feel guilty that we as the population haven't stopped to consider our impact on the resources of the world.
Agency: This is a solely visual piece and the fact that there is no audio nor graphics is an argument in itself. It allows a much more free interpretation of the piece becacuse there is no one telling the viewer what to think. The lables on the stork and on the the babies pin point the argument of the cartoon because, without them, the argument could be a vast number of things. The first thing to catch my eye was the expression on the stork's face. He looks as if he is struggling so bad and I feel sympathetic for him. Next was the little heads of the babies poking out of the "population" blankets. Using babies makes the viewer somewhat confused. He or she wants what is best for the babies and yet, bringing so many into the world just causes more problems. This was ingenious of the artist because the babies really reflect the growing population since they are the newest generation.
     My main question when looking at this picture is what does the artist want us to do about the growing population. We, as the human race, can't stop reproducing because that would lead to the extinction of our race. Neither can we create more resources because many of them are natural and at the Earth's expense. I feel that the message is that the resources won't be able to support the increasing population much longer, but I think it lacks a legitimate solution.
     Also, "population" is written in red. It looks like a warning. If it is, the message of the piece doesn't change drastically it just become more urgent. As if it is saying "Find a solution quickly otherwise we are going to run out of resources and that will be the end of humanity." Because if the stork cannot uphold any longer, it will fall and the "population" will fall as well.