The Illustration of Intergenerational Relations

Candorville (2021)

Candorville employs key elements of humor that are characteristic of many cartoon genres. Through this approach, the artist makes a statement about intergenerational relations between the youth of today and their elders. The dialogue exchange that takes place between the young boy and his father details a difference in activities of interest: while the father rests on the bench, catching his breath, he tells his son to run laps around the bench as a game. The boy's response to his father criticizing his getting bored too quickly suggests the young boy is more aware than his father first assumes. The father reacts to the boy calling him "old" and cursing in the same sentence by telling him to watch his language in regards to his use of "old." Such a term's use is ascribed an ironic degree of gravity compared to what else the boy says. To the young boy, however, it is merely an adjective describing his father's age with respect to his own; to the father, being called "old" is being directly cateogrized out of "young". This sort of social ousting creates a gap between his generation and that of his son's. Because youth is what seems to be universally strived for, the verbal acknowledgement of any other position is seen negatively, perhaps so much so that "old" is worse than "*$%?".

The Age of Prosperity (1903)

Caption reads -- Uncle Josh: "The boys won't stay on the farms no more." / Uncle Silas: "No; an' you can hardly expect 'em to. Nowadays, even the mortgages don't stay on the farms."

Where, exactly, does success lie? The places most conducive to success in the past have not always remained pertinent in changing times. This is due both to a shifting definition of success as well as societal acclamation to new spaces to achieve new goals. In The Age of Prosperity, two elderly farmers stand on the platform at a train station as they discuss their sons departing from the agricultural setting and transitioning elsewhere to work. The industrial framework under which urban life operates constituted prosperity at the time, considering the economic circumstances. In "Farming Don't Pay:" The Anatomy of the 19th Century Western Farm Mortgage Industry, the state of decline of the western farm mortgage industry by 1890 is described as evident: "As dozens of new competitors entered the market and more eastern money flooded into the farm mortgage asset class...the areas that had first galvanized investors [became] overbought, and companies [were] forced to expand outwards from the core regions, inflating values there as well. Cascades of new farmers and a string of successful years had oversupplied the market for the Great Plains' core crops, leaving farmers struggling to hang on" (Solender 33). The position of farmers during the years following these drastic stages of instability was precarious, and financial panic drove many out of the agricultural field. Thus, the product of these circumstances provide the context for Uncle Silas's response to Uncle Josh's statement. The overall question this cartoon poses regarding rural life is whether there is long-term reliability in a growing industrial world. As the economy takes shape around technology and urban endeavors, agriculture and rural sustenance become less entwined in the image of prosperity. Here, it is important to observe who is making the move towards opportunity, however. As the world moves away from the "traditional," which the elderly embody, and redefines where success lies, it also implicitly delineates who can achieve this status. The boys--the youth--are the ones traveling away, leaving behind the farm and their parents and seeking the chance for greater success in the city. This creates a gap between generations where one appears to be advancing towards the track of societal development and the other remains in place. The old men in the foreground and background are wearing hats of similar style, but there appears to be a different hat style worn by the young man in the background bidding adieu to his father. His father is seen grasping his arm, pulling him closer, perhaps urging him to stay. The young man, pictured closer to the tracks, seems resistant, his desire to explore new aveneues to success exceeding his desire to stay on the farm.

I Forget to Drink (1990s)

I Forget to Drink explores the topics of dementia and the social impacts of aging. The cartoon features a feeble edlerly man seated by a middle-aged man at a bar, both with drinks in front of them. The old man says "I forget to drink" as the other man peers at him, perhaps critically, perhaps with tired eyes. Irregardless of the middle-aged man's response, the old man's expression of forgetfulness is not something to which the other relates. The elderly man senses changes in his engagement in recreational activities as he used to, which draws in the idea of dementia and its influence on his cognition and social life. Dementia, most commonly experienced by the elderly, is marked by loss of cognitive and behavioral functioning, which manifests in everyday actions. The old man has either transported himself or been transported to the bar, ordered a drink, yet, in the sequence of events, forgets to drink as he instead stares ahead. Such effects of his condition must display in other moments in his life as well; this likely creates a barrier in his socialization habits and how he is received by others. Those of younger generations, due to lack of exposure and experience, may be impatient or judgemental towards dementia patients. The lack of connection in the manner both parties can engage in produces a rift in intergenerational relationships.

Recommend Death (1993)

Recommend Death portrays the relationship between a sickly grandmother and her grandson, her only heir. The exchange of dialogue between them raises the notion of greed and how it shapes the way the elderly are viewed even in the intrafamilial framework. The grandson recommends for his grandmother to consult Dr. Kevorkian, renown for his work in physician-assisted suicide, in an effort to accelerate her death. It is unclear whether she understands what is implied, but she explicitly expresses her desire to live and spend as much of her fortune as necessary to stay alive as long as possible. She prefers to remain in the familiar--life-- even at the face of death. Death can be fear-inspiring yet is inevitable; however, she desires to delay her succumbing to mortality for the time she can, even if it means staying with a family member who clearly cares more for how she might financially benefit him than her well being or presence. The value proposition thus attributed to the elderly often accounts more for pecuniary potential than contributions that could enrich one's life intangibly. Lamentably, intergenerational relations can be damaged due to conflicting and selfish interests of this nature.