Worst Hard Time

The Worst Hard Time is a story that captivates readers through the telling of survival stories from different point of views, ranging from a partial Indian cowboy, an optimistic school teacher, mother, and wife, as well as a family ‘Russian Germans’ that immigrated to America to escape the czar’s army draft. Not everyone in the story has a happy ending after the dirty thirties, as the Dust Bowl was a critical time in the American High Plains full of tragedy, false hope, and broken dreams of farmers and civilians alike. Timothy Egan tells the stories of these survivors while sprinkling information on the presidents’ overall view of the Dust Bowl and how to help the High Plains during their times of need—with the grit and eroded soil from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado all reaching to the east coast, it began to become a problem for more than just the High Plains, and an intervention was needed. Egan’s description of the survivors of the Dust Bowl also sends a message to modern America, that they need to understand the consequences of their actions—especially when it comes to the environment and if what they’re doing to it is really worth the cost.

While The Worst Hard Time appears to simply be an anecdotal story just on these survivors, Timothy Egan’s introduction give an ominous feeling to the audience about the prolonged effects of the Dust Bowl. To set up the story, Egan begins by acquainting the audience with a few of the recurring survivors, including Ike Osteen, Jeanne Clark, and Melt White. Ike Osteen is described as an old man working on a roof—when he is confronted, in any case. Egan questions Osteen on the drought that is currently on the High Plains in Baca County, Osteen’s home territory—asking him if the drought...

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...that exemplifies the lifestyle and the consequences that people went through in the 1930’s, after their actions in the earlier 1900’s. Just from the introduction, Egan creates the scenario and addresses the prolonged consequences of the problems in the American High Plains. By the end of the book, it’s obvious that Egan’s message to the audience is to think before they act, even if it’s for something that seems like a necessity, such as money. Timothy Egan truly brings to the light a common problem in America’s society, and exemplifies it in one of the many times in the country’s lifetime, that was truly devastating for many. As said before, history often repeats itself, and The Worst Hard Time is simply a precautionary message to modern America to think about the costs and the benefits and see if they outweigh each other in the long-term, as well as the short-term.