Life — October 26, 1922 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cover features a caricatured face wearing a tall top hat, smoking a pipe, with the caption "A Conscientious Objector" credited to artist B. Dort Kilvert. The figure appears to represent someone who refused military service on moral or political grounds—a "conscientious objector." The exaggerated, somewhat grotesque facial features and sneering expression suggest satire: the cartoonist is mocking this person's stance. The upside-down positioning of the letters "L-i-f-e" (with the head rotated 180 degrees) reinforces the satirical inversion of values. In 1922, conscientious objection remained controversial in post-WWI America. This cover likely ridicules pacifists or draft resisters from the recent war, portraying them as absurd or morally backwards figures worthy of public mockery.