I Got a Good Mind To Cut You Adrift 1957

Herbert Lawrence Block made this drawing, "I Got a Good Mind To Cut You Adrift," sometime in the mid-20th century; you can almost see his hand moving across the page as the US Supreme Court looms large as a steamboat over choppy waters. I can imagine Block's thought process as he worked, the weight of the subject matter transformed through line and shade, humor and metaphor. There is a lone figure down below, a politician rowing a small boat marked with the words, "Power-Happy Politicians." The figure is threatening the large boat, holding a saber, ready to cut the rope that binds them. A single gesture like that—a small hand holding a blade— can hold so much feeling. The composition is dramatic, full of tension. Cartoonists like Block are part of a long tradition, like painters, responding to the world and offering their views for consideration. It is all part of the same conversation, the same embodied expression that embraces ambiguity.