Life — July 6, 1922 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Life Magazine Page (1921-1922) This page contains a poem titled "Ensuite" about American war dead buried in France, followed by a single-panel cartoon below it. **The cartoon** depicts figures in what appears to be an afterlife or cemetery setting. Two women are shown among tall grave markers or monuments. One woman says to another: "I've prayed and prayed for a new hat, but I haven't got one yet." The second responds: "Why don't you try crying?" **The satire** appears to mock materialism and frivolity—specifically, women's obsession with fashion (hats) even in the face of death and mourning. The juxtaposition with the solemn war-dead poem above creates ironic contrast, suggesting the living remain preoccupied with vanity while soldiers lie dead abroad. The joke implies emotional manipulation ("try crying") as a means to obtain worldly goods.