Hoboes and Tramps
Hoboes and tramps represented significant figures in America’s history. The phenomenon of “Hobohemia,” the world of hoboes that was subject to its own indoctrinations, tells us much about the social and cultural climate of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century. Moreover, in examining the “others” of society, we gain a far better perspective of what circumstances modernist writers were working under.
A hobo is defined as a migratory worker who is usually unskilled. Although a tramp is basically defined in the same manner, a certain distinction exists. It is often said that the difference lies in the fact that a hobo wandered and worked, a tramp wandered and didn’t work, while a bum, another similar term, neither wandered nor worked. Becoming widespread in the depression of the 1890’s, the term hobo may have come from the slogan for farmhand, “hoe-boy,” or the phrase for “good man,” “homo bonus,” or from simply yelling “Ho! Boy!” while on the road.[1]
The most important aspect of the rise of hoboes and tramps was the advent of railroads and the ability to move to different parts of the country. After the Civil War, many veterans were out of work, restless, and displaced; thus, they set out to travel and find new means for a better life. Described as a “tramp army,” these early vagrants were not viewed positively by the general public. Many Americans were unfamiliar with the problems associated with wage labor, mainly unemployment. Therefore, the tramps were not regarded as people who were simply out of work and looking for a new job, but at times as savages and symbols of evil.[2]
As the nineteenth century came to a close, many of the tramps had already been on the road for close to twenty years. Their endless pursuit for a better life became in itself a way of life known as “Hobohemia.” Another distinction between tramps and hoboes is seen at the turn of the century. Tramps represented the earlier migrants in the post-Civil War times, while hoboes were tramps who had lived a large part of their lives as vagrants, thus interacting with other hoboes and forming a type of sub-culture that was independent, organized and at times political.
The United States, possibly more than any other country, was not very welcoming during the early 1900s. Foreigners, who were uneducated about America’s customs, were unable to find jobs or prevent swindlers from causing their already insufficient wealth to subside. Because of this, Jurgis and his family’s economic and social lives changed drastically. For insta...
Especially as cities became increasingly crowded, living conditions worsened, and those who earned too little lived the slums. In addition, workers on average could expect to be unemployed and unpaid for at least one month each year. One coal miner in Illinois had only been able to work thirty weeks in a year. A family just as poor was recorded to have lived in “a very dirty and unhealthy place, everything perfectly filthy.” In addition, the “children [did] not attend school. They are ignorant of the full sense of the word. Father could not write his name.” These families could not escape destitution, no matter how hard they worked.
“The Jungle,” written by Upton Sinclair in 1906, describes how the life and challenges of immigrants in the United States affected their emotional and physical state, as well as relationships with others. The working class was contrasted to wealthy and powerful individuals who controlled numerous industries and activities in the community. The world was always divided into these two categories of people, those controlling the world and holding the majority of the power, and those being subjected to them. Sinclair succeeded to show this social gap by using the example of the meatpacking industry. He explained the terrible and unsafe working conditions workers in the US were subjected to and the increasing rate of corruption, which created the feeling of hopelessness among the working class.
During the 19th and 20th century, America became a massive super power of cultural abundance and productivity. As William Leach states in his work The Land of Desire and the Culture of Consumer Capitalism, “the cardinal features of this culture were acquisition and consumption as the means of achieving happiness; the cult of the new; the democratization of desire; and money value as the predominant measure of all value in society” (Leach page 3). With the rise of consumption, Americans would begin to spend their few open hours entering dream worlds of fantasy and enchantment to suppress the bland monotonous confines and shackles of the new modern society. One work of unimaginable enticement that catapulted Americans deep into the realm of imagination and wonder was the Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The Wizard of Oz appears to be a magnificent tale about the quest for one’s identity and purpose in a world of ideological liberation and self-expression. However, if one unveils the ubiquitous layer of fantasy ornamented in the story, the mechanisms of capitalism reveal themselves. Furth...
The Modernist Fiction period took place during the 1920’s and revolutionized the American way of life in literature, economically, and socially. There was a national vision of upward mobility during this time that represented the American Dream. The upward mobility was seen through the consumerism and materialism that dominated this decade economically. Popular novels of this time reflected the mass consumerism in the lives of those wrote them. During the American Modernist Fiction period, Americans became increasingly materialistic throughout the roaring twenties; therefore, the American Dream was to obtain upper class status through the possession of material goods, which was reflected in many of this period’s works.
PTSD is a debilitating mental illness that occurs when someone is exposed to a traumatic, dangerous, frightening, or a possibly life-threating occurrence. “It is an anxiety disorder that can interfere with your relationships, your work, and your social life.” (Muscari, pp. 3-7) Trauma affects everyone in different ways. Everyone feels wide ranges of emotions after going through or witnessing a traumatic event, fear, sadness and depression, it can cause changes in your everyday life as in your sleep and eating patterns. Some people experience reoccurring thoughts and nightmares about the event.
Although many of the new gun control laws put into effect target the firearm itself, firearm sales have been increasing. Since 2003, murder has decreased by 17%. Advocates need to review their assumption that more guns equals more crime. Private guns are now in the hands of about 300 million Americans, yet crime has diminished in the U.S.’s past 20 years. To halt any more mass killing shooters such as Adam Lanza, the 20 yr-old shoo...
Prager, Emily. "Our Barbies, Ourselves." Signs of Life in the U.S.A.: Readings on Popular Culture For Writers. 3rd Ed. Maasik, Sonia and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford, 2000. 706-709.
The early settlers of America and today’s immigrants have a lot more similarities than one would assume. Both groups had to endure several challenges when trying to enter the United States in search of a better and easier life. They had to worry about hydration and physical endurance while also risking having their families split up, getting sick, and even dying. That is where the similarities end though, as today’s immigrants must go on with their lives in extreme powerlessness, something the early inhabitants avoided by establishing their own authority. Today’s immigrants are restricted from the most basic of necessities and have to face hostile and belligerent groups of people, among other things. Today's immigrant's experiences are much
Frydman, C., & Saks, R. E. (2010). Executive Compensation: A New View from a Long-Term Perspective, 1936-2005. Review Of Financial Studies, 23(5), 2099-2138.
DeBord, K. (1997). Focus on kids: The effects of divorce on children. National Network for Child Care. Retrieved November 3, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.nncc.org/Child.Dev/effectsdivorce.html
Pasley, Kay. “The Long-Term Effects Of Divorce.” Stepfamilies 16.1 (1996): 11. MAS Ultra – School Edition.Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
rural lifestyle and moving to cities where they could find work, but lived substandard lives.
Works Cited “American Literature 1865-1914.” Baym 1271. Baym, Nina et al. Ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature.
Rosemond, J. (1989, Jan 21). Effects of divorce on children vary: Researchers. The Ottawa Citizen Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/239297736?accountid=458