Life, 1887-12-01 · page 1 of 16
Life — December 1, 1887 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Placing the Responsibility" — Life Magazine, December 1, 1887 This cartoon satirizes parental discipline and moral responsibility. A mother scolds her son "Johnnie" after he's apparently misbehaved dangerously (possibly involving the rifle visible in the sketch). The mother warns him he should "lead such a life" that if he died suddenly, he wouldn't be "ashamed to meet your maker." Johnnie's caustic response—that the maker should be ashamed, since he's "the one" who created Johnnie—flips the responsibility back onto God/fate rather than accepting personal accountability. The joke critiques both permissive parenting and the boy's clever evasion of moral responsibility. It reflects Victorian anxieties about youth discipline and religious instruction in an era of rapid social change.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-NEW YORK, DECEMBER 1, 1887. Entered at New York Post Office as Second-Class Mail Matter. Copyright, 1887, by Mrrormut & Muize. prshicany, is g SVM. PLACING THE RESPONSIBILITY. Mama: YOU SHOULD LEAD SUCH A LIFE, JOHNNIE, THAT IF YOU DIED SUDDENLY You WOULD NOT BE ASHAMED TO MEET YOUR MAKER, Johnnie (thoughtfully): 1 SHOULD THINK HE WAS THE ONE TO BE ASHAMED IF HE'S THE MAKER. comicbooks.com