Life — March 6, 1919 — page 13: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon depicts a social scene where three well-dressed figures interact in what appears to be a parlor or social gathering. The caption indicates the figure on the right represents a "noisy slacker"—someone who avoided military service during World War I. The satire targets men who shirked their war duty, then attempted to justify or explain their absence from combat to those who had served or lost loved ones. The cartoon ridicules such excuses as unwelcome and inappropriate in post-war social settings. The "horrors" reference suggests survivors and families dealing with war trauma, making the slacker's self-justifications particularly tone-deaf and irritating to decent society.