Life — February 22, 1929 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Little Fan-Tail, A Tragedy of the Tropics" by Heman Fay, Jr. This is a short story rather than a political cartoon. The illustration shows two men in colonial dress listening to a third man's account of tropical misadventure. The narrative concerns a man named Pentwhisile who, while stationed in the tropical colonies, became an alcoholic ("the Tropics get a man, Canthrop"). The story traces his degradation through drink and involvement with native women, culminating in his suicide by gunshot in a swamp. The tale appears to satirize British colonial life—particularly the dangers of alcoholism, racial attitudes toward indigenous populations (referred to by period-appropriate slurs), and the moral corruption supposedly inherent to tropical postings. It's a cautionary narrative about colonial excess and its consequences.