Life, 1895-03-21 · page 7 of 18
Life — March 21, 1895 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 183 **The Main Image**: "The Wonders of America: The Return of the Summer Girl—Colossal Statue at Narragansett Pier" depicts a classical winged female figure (likely Liberty or Victory) holding weapons, posed as a monumental statue. This appears to satirize the contrast between idealized American monuments celebrating freedom and virtue versus the chaotic reality described in the adjacent text. **The Text Content**: The surrounding passages—"Mysteries of the French Language" and a Maine anecdote about a man's drinking problem—are humorous vignettes about everyday American life and human weakness. **The Satire**: The juxtaposition mocks the gap between America's grand self-image (represented by the imposing statue) and ordinary Americans' actual behavior (domestic dysfunction, alcoholism, moral failings). The statue's austere idealism contrasts sharply with the mundane human struggles described beside it.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WONDERS OF AMERICA. THE RETURN OF THE SUMMER GIRL—COLOssal. STATUE AT NARRAGANSETT PIER. ANTE UP. boy on the streets so, that little wretch there? Sacré!!! Behold that which the father makes, more cruel than a beast, that man wretched. It is running, those horses there !! One is able not to hold them, and it is that they strike the boy, those animals!! Some of horrors!!! Some of horrors, the most horrible!!! One is able not to say where they are, all the pieces of that boy. My God! It must be like this—here—that I approach myself to those boys, my brothers, all in a minute. Let us go in running to warn them, It will be that I make a moral, and cause her to retire into them, all quick. On, ahead! On, ahead!! To them! To them, those brothers of If it can be that they have not ex- perimented already with some hoofs of horses, it is well. Some heavens! I hope it is that it has been well with them. Holy name of all the devils! One pushes his voice through the air to me. It is not well. I throw myself on the fly to save him. Behold. me!! N Maine a number of years ago lived a MYSTERIES OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE; oR, ONDS IN A FRENCHMAN’S MIND. (Transferred to English.) IS it, that it is that which it is, that boy there? My Faith ! Itis it, him. Parbleu! Is it not true that it is that gamin there, at the house of whose father I remain my- self? Some things amazing !! What is it that his father makes, to allow to run his THREE couple; the wife a good woman, but not very brilliant in intellect. The husband had been very intemperate but had reformed, although at times his appear- ance suggested that the reformation was not a complete one. One day the worthy woman called upon a neighbor, and during the conversation anxiously asked her “If she could tell her how long the odor of liquor remained after a man left off drinking? for her husband signed the pledge two years before, and his breath still smelled of liquor!" comicbooks.com