The Wasp — June 12, 1880 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of "The Illustrated Wasp" Page 740 This page contains a naturalistic essay about rats, illustrated with three sketches showing rat behavior and anatomy. The text describes the author's observations of rats near his home—including white rats carrying food, and a detailed account of befriending a tame rat named Tommy. **The satire here is implicit rather than explicit.** The essay uses rats as a vehicle for social commentary on human nature. By lavishing affectionate, almost reverential language on Tommy ("idyllic perfection of humanity"), the author appears to be ironically suggesting that rats demonstrate superior qualities—loyalty, gratitude, and affection—compared to humans. This inverts typical attitudes toward vermin, mocking human pretension through contrast with animal virtue. The page functions as satirical natural history rather than political cartoon.