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Playing the Game 1905 and 1915
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Playing the Game 1905 and 1915
Cartoon contrasting a schoolboy aiming snowballs with his older self, ten years later, transferring his skills in the trenches and readying himself to show some grenades. The pictures title, Playing the Game utilises the sporting parlance often substituted for war terms during the Great War. Date: 1915
Mary Evans Picture Library makes available wonderful images created for people to enjoy over the centuries
Media ID 14225866
© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans
Bomb Bombs Contrast Greater Grenade Grenades Older Schoolboy Snowball Snowballing Snowballs Sporting Thrower Throwing Trench Trenches Warfare Games
Playing the Game - A Boy's Transition from Snowballs to Grenades, 1905-1915
EDITORS COMMENTS
This evocative cartoon, titled "Playing the Game," offers a poignant contrast between the innocent pastime of a schoolboy aiming snowballs and the grim reality of the same boy, now ten years older, preparing to hurl deadly grenades on the Western Front during World War I. The image, created in 1915, captures the unsettling juxtaposition of the familiar and the foreign, the playful and the deadly, as the sporting parlance of the title is replaced with the harsh realities of warfare. In the earlier scene, a young boy, dressed in a cap and blazer, stands confidently with a snowball in hand, his eyes focused intently on his unsuspecting target. The snow-covered landscape and the playful expression on his face evoke memories of carefree childhood days spent in wintery frolics. In the second scene, the same boy, now a soldier, stands in the trenches, his expression serious and determined. He dons a military uniform, a helmet, and a grimy gas mask, and clutches a grenade in his hand. The background is filled with the chaos of war: the muddy trenches, the barbed wire, and the ominous clouds of smoke rising from the battlefield. The cartoon serves as a stark reminder of the brutal transformation that war brings about, as young men are thrust from the innocence of their childhood into the horrors of the battlefield. The title, "Playing the Game," takes on a new meaning as the boy's childhood pastime is replaced by the deadly seriousness of warfare. This powerful image, created during the height of the First World War, offers a poignant commentary on the human cost of conflict and the enduring impact it has on the lives of those who experience it.
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