# Telegraph's Alex cartoon displays a swastika **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 29, 2017, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telegraphs-alex-cartoon-displays-a-swastika/783274 "2017-03-29T10:52:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telegraphs-alex-cartoon-displays-a-swastika/783274/1 "2017-03-29T10:52:56Z")
Am I being too sensitive over [this](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/business/2017/03/28/Alex_29032017.gif)? To me it looks uncomfortably like a swastika. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telegraphs-alex-cartoon-displays-a-swastika/783274/2 "2017-03-29T12:01:12Z")
I doubt it’s intended to be a swastika or hint at one, even if it might to some. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telegraphs-alex-cartoon-displays-a-swastika/783274/3 "2017-03-29T12:30:49Z")
Well, its stated purpose within the cartoon’s context is to make people uncomfortable. So, job done, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telegraphs-alex-cartoon-displays-a-swastika/783274/4 "2017-03-29T12:31:25Z")
It seems out of context to be a subtly-conveyed swastika. And it’s too subtle to be an intentionally-random-subversive swastika. If there were some plausible Nazi connection in the cartoon itself that might be another story. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telegraphs-alex-cartoon-displays-a-swastika/783274/5 "2017-03-29T12:32:56Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Well, its stated purpose within the cartoon’s context is to make people uncomfortable. So, job done, I suppose. That, too. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telegraphs-alex-cartoon-displays-a-swastika/783274/6 "2017-03-29T21:37:07Z")
Hold up a crucifix in front of the cartoon, and you’ll be protected from is power to harm you. Let the symbols duke it out. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telegraphs-alex-cartoon-displays-a-swastika/783274/7 "2017-03-29T22:42:12Z")
> [@naita](#): > > I doubt it’s intended to be a swastika or hint at one, even if it might to some. I don’t doubt the lack of intention; the execution is another matter. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telegraphs-alex-cartoon-displays-a-swastika/783274/8 "2017-03-29T23:09:31Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Well, its stated purpose within the cartoon’s context is to make people uncomfortable. So, job done, I suppose. Specifically, to convey despair, bleakness and alienation. I don’t find the design especially subtle either. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telegraphs-alex-cartoon-displays-a-swastika/783274/9 "2017-03-30T01:01:20Z")
Looks like an inflatable tube man (‘air dancer’) to me. Well known indicator of despair, bleakness and alienation (particularly in animation). I wonder why? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telegraphs-alex-cartoon-displays-a-swastika/783274/10 "2017-03-30T06:17:59Z")
Nah, I think you’ve got it. It’s subtly a swastika, and that’s part of what makes it unsettling, which is what makes the comic work. And I agree that using it in isolation is nothing to be concerned about. If you saw hidden swastikas in a lot of this cartoonist’s work, then maybe it would carry meaning. But, as is? Probably innocuous. Not that I plan on looking at it again. It does really well at being unsettling for something drawn in a simple comic style.