Life — July 9, 1914 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 54 This page satirizes wealth inequality and social classes. The article "Best People: Our Trials with Them" critiques the wealthy elite who inherit fortunes and resist redistribution, while simultaneously mocking reformers and regulators who demand equality. The top cartoon shows a man fishing while a woman holds his catch—likely satirizing how the wealthy effortlessly accumulate resources ("Quick, Charles!"). The bottom cartoon depicts a woman serving food to two wealthy gentlemen at a lavish table ("An Absorbing Subject Well Treated"), suggesting the article's point: wealthy people are preoccupied with material excess while dismissing those—particularly Prohibitionists and reformers—who challenge their dominance. The satire cuts both ways, mocking both acquisitive elites and tiresome moral reformers.