Life, 1893-04-20 · page 5 of 16
Life — April 20, 1893 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The American Comedy: Self Made" This satirical piece critiques the "self-made man" myth through dialogue about a wealthy businessman. The conversation reveals the hypocrisy: while the man claims to have built his fortune entirely through his own effort—coming to New York at sixteen, working long hours for minimal wages—the speakers suggest his success actually depended on advantages others lacked. References to his father (Deacon Hardscrabble) and the implication that inherited traits or family connections facilitated his rise undermine his claim of purely self-directed success. The sketch mocks the American ideal of the completely self-reliant individual by exposing how circumstance, family background, and luck—not purely personal merit—enable wealth accumulation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE AMERICAN COMEDY. “SELF MADE.” ELF made? Oh, no! Natural born like the rest of us. That is his mother in the portrait, and the girl for whom he is draw- ing the check is his daughter. And his father — ? Was good Deacon Hardscrabble, of New Hampshire, who had discrimination enough to fall in love with the school- mistress, And if he had so complete a parentage, why do they call him “ self-made "? 4 Because he has a fortune that he made himself. All himself! How ? He came to New York when he was sixteen to work six- teen hours a day and live on two dollars and a half a week. Dear! How could he stand so much hard work ? He was brought up to it. You should have felt of the Deacon's palms. And how could his frugality endure in a place of so many allurements ? Perhaps his mother could have told you that. And he made a great, big fortune ? Pretty goodish pile, even for now. Made it honestly ? Oh, yes! It was hard work and desperate thrift for a comicbooks.com