Analysis of a WWII Poster

This World War II poster gives a message to the viewers through its visual elements. The point of this poster was to gain more nurses for the war effort. It’s a recruitment poster, looking to encourage women to become nurses. This poster is speaking directly to young women, particularly if they haven’t finished school or don’t have a job, because many women at the time opted for factory jobs rather than nursing. The United States needed more nurses, so they created this poster, along with a few others, to encourage women to pursue that career.

This poster speaks to its audience using patriotism. The man giving the woman her nursing cap is dressed as a symbol of the United States, with his blue sleeves, stars, and red-and-white striped cuffs. This gives the message that the United States as a whole has some stake in one woman becoming a nurse. It presents the idea that the very heart of the nation, the stars and stripes, needs nurses.

The woman herself is meant to reach the audience through visuals. The woman is wearing a dress that is light blue and white, the nursing cap is white, and her lipstick is red. Her outfit and makeup is an extension of the patriotic color scheme, as she is also dressed in red, white, and blue, furthering the point that pursuing nursing is a patriotic act.

The phrasing of the caption is meant to influence the audience as well. The caption states “become a nurse, your country needs you.” This wording implies that nursing is what will help the country, and in that, also alleges that other professions are of lesser importance to the United States’ war effort. At the time that this image was created, many women had taken factory jobs to fill the positions of men who enlisted.

It was a common way for women to aid the war effort from home, and many women preferred factory work over nursing. This poster’s phrasing that the country “needs you” as a nurse is meant to make it seem like other work is less valuable than nursing, and could even insinuate that factory jobs are not a help to the war effort--only nursing is--because it solely praises nursing.

Another appealing part of this image is the pictured nurse’s appearance. The woman in the image is a model, so this image of a nurse is a conventionally beautiful woman. This look being associated with a career in nursing is meant to appeal to viewers’ self-image. It gives the viewer the subconscious idea that nursing is an attractive profession, or one associated with beauty and gracefulness.

The woman in the image looks happy, smiling at receiving her nursing cap, which gives the audience the thought that nursing will make them happy as well. This image is meant to give viewers the idea that becoming a nurse will make them the same as the woman in the poster, who is beautiful, proud, and happy.