Growing Up In The Great Depression: Growing Up By Russell Baker

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Growing up in the Great Depression "Growing Up" by Russell Baker is an autobiography on the troubles him and his family faced during the Great Depression.. While the United States is enormously changing from war to war, Russell tells his story of growing up in an extremely depressing environment. During the Depression, the major problems that Baker faced through the novel were about the financial difficulties that his family endured, ending in result of his father passing away, the struggles of moving from rural life to urban life, and the lack of Medical attention around the area. According to the novel, Russell Baker was born in rural Morrisonville, Virginia on August 14, 1925. There were many issues that him and his family had faced during the great depression. The first main issue that Baker and his family faced was financial stress. It started when Russell was five years old, when his father passed. Russell’s mom, Elizabeth, decided to leave the past behind and move out of their home. Russle and his family ended up moving into Elizabeth’s brothers home, in the book she stated, “For the first time in her life she needed charity.” This shows that upon the death of her husband, the whole family no longer had the money to live the lifestyle they had and they needed a little bit of help to get started with creating a new life. When Russle turned eight years old his mother had suggested for him to get a job, so he began working at Journalism Company. In the novel we see many examples of transition of America interfering on the Baker family. One of them is his when his mother debates on Women’s suffrage in 1913. During the change of America, his mother saw the difference of men and women. Russell Baker describes his mo... ... middle of paper ... ...the Baker family. In conclusion, The Baker family went through a lot through the great depression, and it affected there lives in many ways that they thought it wouldn’t. This autobiography on the troubles him and his family faced during the Great Depression. During the Depression, the major problems that Baker faced through the novel were about the financial difficulties that his family endured, ending in result of his father passing away, the struggles of moving from rural life to urban life, and the lack of Medical attention around the area. During the depression, in Morrisonville there was a common occurrence as many towns people died from common illnesses like phenomena, or whooping cough. This book has much to offer to teenage readers who are interested in the story of one individual’s growth, development, and struggles of his life in the Great Depression.

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