Orwell was an accurate analyst of social conditions in the 1930s in communicating issues of unemployment and social perceptions existing after the detrimental international economic halt provoked by the Wall Street market Crash of 1929. Leading into The Great Depression, Orwell gives a first-hand account of the living and working conditions of the working-class in Britain, gaining insight into ideologies different from what he had been taught in his middle-class upbringing. In his account, the economic upheaval in Britain provides a basis for social issues to be addressed through a physical engagement with the working-class.
By providing a description of the realities of existence in the 1930s as well as an account of the ideologies embedded within individuals in an attempt to alleviate the burden of difficult conditions, Orwell provides an acute account of the social and economic spheres of Britain.
As there is much conflict and change existing in the British government in this decade, Orwell provides his concept of Socialism in England arguing that left-wing politics are no longer movements of the working-class. Whilst the more political section of The Road To Wigan Pier is based more upon Orwell’s perceptions and less upon the reality of political circumstances, the author embodies reactionary qualities against radical movements of the 1930s, identifying with the political disillusionment that many faced, making him correct in reflecting attitudes of his time.
Opening with an economic depression and ending with total war, the 1930’s have been characterised by the mass unemployment, the rise of fascism and appeasement threatening to destruct societies. Known as ‘The Hungry Thirties,’ this period faced issues of chronic pov...
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...sion”. Jonathan Cape, London, 1977. Pp. 31
Barry Turner, ‘“Society in the 1930;s”: Depression: Society Politics Literature’, History of the 20th Century, 1969. Chapter 55 (September 2001), pp. 1537-1540
Bernard Bergonzi, “Literature: Commitment and Disillusion,” Depression: Society Politics Literature , History of the 20th Century, 1969. Chapter 55 (September 2001), pp. 1535
David Marquand, “Great Britain and the Depression”, Depression: Society Politics Literature. History of the 20th Century, 1969. Chapter 55 (September 2001), pp. 1514
Beatrix Campbell “Orwell- Paterfamilias or Big Brother”: Inside the Myth- Orwell: Views from the Left. Pp. 128.
Christopher Norris, ed., Inside the Myth: Orwell: Views from the Left Pp. 244
Eric Dorn Brose, “Toward the Cataclysm”: A History of Europe in the Twentieth Century. Oxford University Press, 2005. pp. 207
Gene Smiley, "Great Depression." The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.2008. Library of Economics and Liberty. 12 May 2014. .
Nelson, Sheila. Crisis at Home and Abroad: the Great Depression, World War II, and Beyond,
McElvaine, Robert S, ed. Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1983.
The Great Depression America 1929-1941 by Robert S. McElvaine covers many topics of American history during the "Great Depression" through 1941. The topic that I have selected to compare to the text of American, Past and Present, written by Robert A. Divine, T.H. Breen, George M. Frederickson and R. Hal Williams, is Herbert Hoover, the thirty-first president of the United States and America's president during the horrible "Great Depression".
This essay is distinctly about how life experiences alter the way in which your writings travel. The ups and downs of life will determine the perspective you see of your life, in turn, determining how you feel or express yourself. Orwell states, “his subject matter will be determined by the age he lives in – at least this is true in tumultuous, revolutionary ages like our own” (265). This statement proves how writing develops with age and how through different time periods, has evolved. Orwell's essay focuses on the indirect wants.
"Unit 11 The 1930s: The Great Depression." Welcome. New Jersey State Library, 12 Jan. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
zShmoop Editorial Team. "Politics in The Great Depression." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
Watkins, T.H.. The Great Depression: America in the 1930s. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1993.
Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945. Oxford History of the United States: Oxford University Press. Davidson, J. W., Delay, B., et al. (2005). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary'.
After the end of the World War I in 1920, the United States entered in a period where great changes were made. During this period known as the New Era of the 1920’s, many innovations were taking place as well as many economic developments, which were stimulating the way through a change in America’s society. However, while for some Americans this was an era of better opportunities for living, some others were suffering the consequences. Later on, with an unequal distribution of wealth and low incomes, America’s economy was in a vulnerable point of a catastrophic collapse. And so it was. By the end of the 1920’s, when the stock market crashed, the prosperity of that period disappeared and the nation was sunk into an economic catastrophe known as the Great Depression. Many factors constituted the reasons for this collapse, for example, the Wall Street crash, the oligopolies domination over American industries, the weaknesses in some industries (textile, coal and agriculture), and also the government policies and international economic difficulties. Then, by the early 1930 with the depression spreading and affecting the entire society, the policies, philosophy and optimism that Herbert Hoover had brought to his presidency was being challenged. As a result, by the time of the elections in 1932, Hoover lost the presidency against the candidate of the Democratic Party, Franklin D. Roosevelt and his campaign of what he called the New Deal. Based on this, FDR pushed towards many solutions for the “crises of a collapsing financial system, crippling unemployment, and agricultural and industrial breakdown” (Goldfield, Page 704). Even thought when various changes were made, it was during the period right after the elections of 1936 that polit...
However, for the worst affected, the most difficult effect on morale must have been the lifelong memory of seeing their children and family suffer, and having no power to change this. For the lack of power to change the future is the exact opposite of the ‘American Dream’. References: Prosperity, Depression and The New Deal, Peter Clements, 2001, Hodder and Stoughton, London Letters To The Roosevelts, various authors, date and publisher unknown An Editor Loses His Job In The Great Depression, Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression, Studs Terkel, 1978, Pantheon Books. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? , Jay Gorney, 1932, Warner Bros. Music The Great Depression, Mc Elvaine R., 1984, Times Books, New York
McElvaine, Robert S. The Depression and New Deal: A History in Documents. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. Print.
This is a remarkable book of objective description as well as of rhetoric. While he does have a bias, he is still able to recognize points on either side. Orwell had the rare courage to overcome centuries of class prejudice to live among and respect the people his peers could casually dismiss. He shows us the role that the middle class play in creating these deplorable conditions.
Orwell, George. “Politics and the English Language.” George Orwell: Critical Essays. London: Harvill Secker: 2009. 270-286. Print.
The View of American Society in the Depression Years in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men