This political cartoon depicts England as an octopus, with its tentacles extending onto all of the countries it has pulled into its Empire. Through this the artist is expressing the opinion that England is a greedy, land-snatching country that desires to expand its influence in as many directions as possible as quickly as possible. I feel that this artist does well with portraying the power-hungry nature of many imperial nations, particularly England, with the use of the octopus metaphor. The image of tentacles extending into the controlled countries also conjures an image of the mother country, England, strangling them for their resources.
In this cartoon we see various European and Asian leaders from the countries of England, Germany, France, Russia, and Japan trying to divide up China amongst themselves, while the Chinese Emperor stands shouting in the background. This represents the imperial powers of the world trying to stake their claim in the newly opened Chinese Empire. This artist is expressing the opinion that the aforementioned imperial powers were quick to stake their claim in China, and quarrel over, while leaving the Chinese government out of the matter. Again, I feel that the artist does an excellent job of showing the greed and quick action on the part of imperial powers to expand into previously unexploited countries.
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