Life — February 22, 1912 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Go East, Young Man!" This 1912 *Life* cartoon satirizes westward expansion ideology by inverting the famous Horace Greeley phrase "Go West, young man!" A prosperous gentleman in a top hat (representing Eastern establishment or civilization) directs a ragged, rough-looking prospector or frontiersman toward the East, carrying his meager possessions. The joke critiques the notion that the American West represents opportunity and fortune. Instead, it suggests the frontier has become exhausted or unprofitable—that the real wealth and success now lies back East in established cities and industries. The well-dressed figure's patronizing gesture toward the disheveled prospector implies the "frontier dream" has failed, and ambitious men would do better seeking opportunities in Eastern business and society rather than pursuing the traditional westward path.