In the images of children in danger in frightening situations in Venezuela and near an ISIS-controlled area in Mosul, the viewer is confronted with an enormous amount of pathos. This article will explore these two photos that act as individual aggregates by questioning Lucaites and Hariman's claims that the pathos of such photos can inspire people to act for these children. This pathos, an appeal to the audience through their emotions, essentially overrides their logical or ethical responses. Rather than appealing to their desire to solve problems on the world stage rationally, through argument, or ethically, by focusing the story on whether it is believable or believable, the photographer presents the viewer with a photograph that attacks their emotional response and overwhelms them. They immediately feel that they must do something without understanding what. In other words, their ethical and logical responses to this emotional reaction draw on their sadness, disgust and indignation and fit into the need for immediate and reckless action that arises with such emotion. In Venezuela, the terrible food shortage is due to the reckless economic policies of Nicolas Maduro, the country's president, who tries to oppose American control of the global economy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay It’s hard to know how to react in a situation like this. How should the world's rich countries respond when the Venezuelan government refuses aid from Amnesty International and the UN? The photographs create a huge emotional response without giving the viewer anything to do with that response, so the viewer does their best to forget it. In the photo of a naked young boy near Mosul being rescued from an ISIS-controlled area near Mosul, the viewer's pathetic reaction is far more dangerous. Their sadness and anger cause them to want immediate intervention, but there is not necessarily a right way to intervene in a conflict involving many different parties in a foreign country that the West does not fully understand. These photos, which are individual aggregates, depict the story of each individual in these photos and show what children in these areas experience on a daily basis. In many ways, the US intervention allowed ISIS to take control of Iraq. More Western intervention cannot save the little boy in the photo, although the viewer's pathetic response might demand action. These individual aggregates lead to Lucaites and Hariman's article, "Visual Rhetoric, Photojournalism and Democratic Public Culture," in which they challenge the assertion that photojournalism, iconic images, and "individualized aggregates" support or harm the democratic culture. An individuated aggregate is “a trope in which the population as a whole is represented only by specific individuals” (38). It means a picture of something bad happening to a person or a few people, meant to represent many instances of this bad thing happening and, therefore, encourage action and intervention. Looking at the two images I chose to examine of children in Venezuela and Iraq facing terrible situations, it is possible to examine the claims of Lucaites and Hariman in a critical light. Why should seeing these horrific and shocking images lead to a better ability to.