Frida Kahlo Rhetorical Analysis

Christofer Smith • September 4, 2025 • 300 Words

Introduction

In her painting “Self-Portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States,” revered artist Frida Kahlo depicts her perspective of the falsehood of the American Dream in the midst of the Great Depression. She develops this message by employing the use of symbolism and composition to shape the dreary atmosphere of the United States at this time. Kahlo’s work stands to portray the exceptionalism of America as a facade that has crumbled in order to express that which surrounded her to an audience of similarly-burdened working-class Americans and Mexicans, facing struggles amongst the economic collapse.

Composition

The upper half of Kahlo’s work illustrates the sky, concealed beneath a dense layer of emissions and skyscrapers from a large urban center, paralleling a pair of clouds containing a weeping sun and saddened moon. She uses these celestial bodies to personify the seemingly divine disfavor that had been brought down upon the United States through the Depression while representing the clouding of the naturally vibrant sky with pollution. These symbols exist to provoke thought of America’s actions and its influence on the uncontrollable within the observer while portraying her complex perspective visually. Furthermore, the foreground of the painting depicts cold, mechanical pipes among a barren sepia landscape, eventually leading to the side of Kahlo herself in the center of the composition. These pipes and the ground beneath them, imposing and devoid of joy, represent the insecurity and melancholy that she and those surrounding her endured through the Depression — an idea which she expands by donning herself in a vibrant pink. By setting herself apart from a symbolic foreground and background of despair, Kahlo urges the viewer to see her situation, nestled among heartless woe, allowing the portrait to lend itself to the empathy that her audience so desperately needed during these trying times.

Examples

As discussed above, Kennedy highlights some of the various peoples affected by the elevated price of steel to establish a sense of commonality among the audience of American citizens through diction. In his third paragraph, Kennedy continues to utilize a strategy of examples not only to elaborate on why the audience should care, but even to demonstrate why he cares (beyond his position as a national leader) through examples. Kennedy does this by developing the scope of what the increase of prices could mean for the industry holistically, reasoning that “if this rise… is imitated… it would increase the cost of… most other items” (Kennedy 22). Kennedy allows listeners a view into his perspective — that failing to rescind these price hikes would set a devastating precedent — in order to paint a pressing picture which directly targets his audience. He soon reiterates that this audience includes “every American businessman and farmer” (Kennedy 27) who keeps the economy and food production flowing and “every American family” (Kennedy 25) who lives in the nation. These examples further expand on Kennedy’s goal to convey to the American people their position on the matter before he includes his own position — that “it would seriously handicap [his administration’s] efforts” (Kennedy 28) to prevent inflation for the pensions of “our older citizens” (Kennedy 29). This final scenario highlights a specific demographic that the audience may empathize with, especially during a time not too distant from the Great Depression in which older citizens were unable to find work and were destitute, but also includes Kennedy’s efforts in the matter — further cementing his position as an active participant, not a passive bystander.

Concluding Remarks

Following these paragraphs and a discussion of further complications from the increase in steel prices, Kennedy shifts his strategy. Gone now are the possible scenarios or “what-ifs” and “it-woulds,” but rather, Kennedy introduces a line of reasoning built on statistics to drive his stance against leading steel corporations. He asserts that “ the facts of the matter [show] that there is no justification for an increase in steel prices (Kennedy 46), before delving into the statistics behind steel outputs, stating that it would “actually be expected [for steel prices] to decline” (Kennedy 56). Through the inclusion of cited statistics, Kennedy confirms the validity of his own argument — that it is not only in theory that such an action by steel executives was unjustified. Kennedy caps off his logically-based section of his remarks by reiterating his facts “in short” (Kennedy 75) to simply demonstrate the corporations’ “ruthless disregard of their own public responsibilities" (Kennedy 81). This summary serves the reader in that it provides one last declaration against the steel price increase, reminding the reader of Kennedy’s continued thesis. Moreover, it illustrates Kennedy’s overarching aim to include his audience — regardless of their understanding of the steel industry — to understand the effect that it has on them.

Works Cited

Kennedy, John F. The President’s News Conference. News Conference, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-194. News Conference 30. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.

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