The Wasp — 1896 — page 517: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes the legal absurdity of prosecuting suicide attempts. The dialogue includes phrases like "By makin' it a civil or a crime" and "How would you stop it?" and "By makin' it an office deservin' death!"—highlighting the logical contradiction: if someone attempts suicide and survives, executing them as punishment would accomplish what the suicide attempt aimed to do anyway. The cartoon mocks both the legal system's harsh approach to suicide and society's failure to address underlying causes. By showing authority figures debating how to punish someone for self-harm, *The Wasp* critiques the era's punitive rather than compassionate approach to mental health and desperation. The joke exposes the cruel circularity of such "justice."