Parliamentary Recruiting Committee's 'Step Into Your Place'

In the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee’s Step Into Your Place, the World War I era propaganda poster evokes a range of changing emotions dependent upon how one views the artwork. First distributed in 1915, the artwork was commissioned by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee(PRC) to convince the youths of Britain to enlist. The PRC was a bipartisan organization created after the outbreak of war, and was headed by British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith. Step Into Your Place was one of two hundred paintings commissioned by the PRC to help the war effort. What makes Step Into Your Place unique amongst World War I propaganda pieces is the numerous responses the painting elicits from its views. At first, the artwork appears to send a message
At the forefront of the painting, the individuals stand in contrast to one another. A miner with a worn shirt and a pick axe over his shoulder stands next to a slick haired man in a suit. In front of these men is a judge in full attire, including a black robe and traditional white wig, who is standing next to a day laborer. Two gentlemen can be seen wearing top hats, with suits to match. A farmer is depicted with a pitch fork on his shoulder. The same farmer stands in line with a golfer, similarly hoisting his clubs over his shoulder while also donning a traditional scottish bonnet. The coloring of the figures in the painting is at first as diverse as the individuals with shades of green, red, white, black, tan, yellow, mustard, and blue. Likewise, the clothing of the individuals is just as unique with each symbolizing a socioeconomic status. Furthermore, the faces of the men are slightly turned away from the viewer, yet the viewer can still differentiate between each person. But as the line of soldiers progresses, the different classes of society slowly morph into one line of British soldiers. Their diverse colors are replaced by a sea of tan. Golf clubs, pitchforks, and pickaxes are exchanged for a bayonet rifle. The variety of top hats are converted into a tan colored peaked cap. Finally, the individuals fully turn their faces away from the view of
Like the young men in England, many Americans, including myself, are impressionable and feel some kind of duty to defend one’s country. The society in which we have been raised has pushed us to strive for and ultimately be willing to die for glory, honor, and a sense committing ourselves for the greater good of society. Since WWI, military propaganda has transitioned away from posters and into a different form of artwork. We are surrounded by recruitment ads by all five service branches in all forms of media we consume. So much of our society pushes forth the heroic duty of being valiant and courageous when serving without showing the realities of war. The lack of a complete picture of what those serving in the military may endure leads young men to be cheated out of their prime. As commented on in “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” American children can be taken advantage of in their recruitment to the military. The military can rob young men of their individualism, yet is it still promoted across society to this day. The poem makes the argument that we all in some way may be complicit in the stolen years of young men’s lives throughout our nation. Yet, the notion that “it is sweet and honorable to die for one’s country” will remain the law of