Life — October 6, 1921 — page 23: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page presents twelve dog sketches illustrating different emotional states through body language—specifically ear and tail positions. Each illustration is labeled with a human emotion: Curiosity, Excitement, Disappointment, Anticipation, Delight, Menace, Dejection, Reproach, Apology, Indecision, Interrogation, and Welcome. The satire likely compares dog behavior to human emotional expression, suggesting that dogs communicate feelings as clearly as people do—sometimes more honestly. By anthropomorphizing canine body language, the cartoonist humorously implies that dogs possess recognizable psychology parallel to humans. This was a common early-20th-century satirical device: using animal behavior to comment obliquely on human nature and society. The piece appears to be straightforward visual humor rather than political commentary.