Life — November 14, 1918 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page contains two distinct pieces of satirical commentary on post-WWI France: **Top Section ("Their Honeymoon"):** The illustration shows a soldier in a trench gazing at a romantic vision of figures in the distance. The accompanying text by Benjamin De Casseres is poetic commentary celebrating French military heroism, referencing Saint Joan of Arc, French weapons and victories. **Bottom Section ("French Thrift Still Active"):** This satirizes France's financial dealings with Allied nations. Mr. Wickersham proposes the U.S. write off all war debts owed by the Allies. The satire criticizes France's determination to collect war reparations and maintain profitable financial arrangements while remaining financially dependent on Allied creditors—portraying French business interests as opportunistic amid wartime suffering. The right illustration humorously depicts a restaurant patron ordering expensive cuts of meat, satirizing French materialism and continued luxury consumption despite war's devastation.