Life — April 22, 1915 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 697 This page features a satirical cartoon of animals at a formal dinner, with an ostrich as the central figure addressing a waiter. The ostrich complains about being kept waiting, threatening to "swallow the knives and forks"—a reference to the old myth that ostriches eat anything. Below is an editorial feature titled "What Would You Do If—" presenting three hypothetical moral dilemmas for readers: 1. A newspaper proprietor discovering his paper championed a woman whose views oppose his wife's 2. A military leader realizing his pursuit of power contradicts peace 3. (Third scenario partially visible) The feature invites reader contemplation of ethical conflicts between personal ambition and principle. The ostrich cartoon and text together satirize how people—like the mythical ostrich—sometimes avoid difficult truths rather than address them directly.