Impact of the Great Depression on the Characters in Tillie Olsen’s novel Yonnondio: From the Thirties
The Great Depression of the 1930’s, which has been called the “invisible scar, the absent presence,” continues to impact American culture (Rabinowitz 17). The devastating effect of failed businesses, the dust bowl, farm foreclosures, and an unemployment rate of 30 percent reminds us that capitalism is fallible. Although we recall with humility this bleak period of our history, we seldom reflect on the plight of the Depression’s most vulnerable victims--the underpaid, uneducated working poor. In Yonnondio: From the Thirties, Tillie Olsen gives readers a searing personal account of a family struggling to escape, or at least manage, abject poverty. Their journey from a Wyoming mining town to a farm in South Dakota to a slaughterhouse in Omaha presents one disaster after another for the Holbrook family. Because of this cycle, they represent thousands of unsung heroes who struggled to survive and maintain a family unit during difficult times.
Although the novel depicts the family’s struggle as a unit, three members emerge as the main characters. Trapped by lack of opportunity and a faltering self-image, Jim Holbrook works under subhuman conditions to provide for his family. His struggle demonstrates how patriarchal culture oppresses both men and women into ascribed roles based on impossible ideals. Anna, his wife, holds the family together with the meager resources brought in by her husband, who devalues her role because she is a woman and earns no money. As a result of this oppression, she grapples with her own identity, as motherhood and domestic responsibility limit her opportunities for personal fulfillment an...
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Grant Wood was a Regionalist artist who continually endeavored to capture the idyllic beauty of America’s farmlands. In 1930 he had been roaming through his hometown in Iowa searching for inspiration when he stumbled upon a house that left him spellbound. From this encounter came America’s iconic American Gothic. Not long after Wood’s masterpiece was complete the once ideal countryside and the people who tended to it were overcome by despair and suffering as the Great Depression came to be. It was a time of economic distress that affected nearly every nation. America’s stock market crashed in 1929 and by 1933 millions of Americans were found without work and consequently without adequate food, shelter, and other necessities. In 1935, things took a turn for the worst as severe winds and dust storms destroyed the southern Great Plains in the event that became known as the Dust Bowl. Farmers, who had been able to fall back on their crops during past depressions, were hit especially hard. With no work or way or other source of income, many farms were foreclosed, leaving countless families hungry and homeless. Ben Shahn, a Lithuanian-born man who had a deep passion for social injustice, captures the well-known hopelessness of the Great Depression through his photograph Rural Rehabilitation Client. Shahn and Wood use their art to depict the desperation of everyday farmers in America due to the terrors and adverse repercussions that the Great Depression incited.
Furthermore, a narrative of the Depression: "It was always cold in the house; the only warmth was a wood burning stove in the corner. We used to sit and listen to Gracie and Burn's on the 7 o'clock show. Dinner was watered down onion stew with a slice of bread. "We worked in the fields, maybe 9, 10, hours per day, maybe more. Pay was two dollars a week. We were lucky. We had a roof over our head and food in our bellies, even if it were onion stew, most days." Now, it's 1974 and I ask my granddaughter for a pop at the lumber yard. "50 cents for a 16 ounce bottle of pop. What's wrong with prices these days? I can remember 10 cents a pop."
The Great Depression tested America’s political organizations like no other event in United States’ history except the Civil War. The most famous explanations of the period are friendly to Roosevelt and the New Deal and very critical of the Republican presidents of the 1920’s, bankers, and businessmen, whom they blame for the collapse. However, Amity Shlaes in her book, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, contests the received wisdom that the Great Depression occurred because capitalism failed, and that it ended because of Roosevelt’s New Deal. Shlaes, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a syndicated financial columnist, argues that government action between 1929 and 1940 unnecessarily deepened and extended the Great Depression.
The Great Depression is seen as one of the most sorrowful and desolate times in the history of the United States. This time was the longest period of recession ever seen by this nation so far. It lasted from 1929 to 1939, over ten years of complete confusion and despondency within the people. Many Americans were affected greatly by this tragic time and sacrificed much of their lives so that they and their families may have the chance to live. This act of desperation can be seen throughout the movie, The Cinderella Man, where a professional boxer, Jim Braddock, becomes crippled by the depression, both economically and spiritually. The observer can see this through the explicit cinematography of the movie and depiction of the Great Depression made by the director. However the director left out a key aspect of the happenings of the depression, the stock market crash. Perhaps, this catastrophic event was irrelevant to the plot and message of the movie, but it is important to the actual Great Depression of the United States. Furthermore, the nation of 2010 is well on its way to repeating history. There are frightening similarities between that dreadful time of the 1930’s and the present that should not be overlooked, or the United States might condemn itself back into that horrific state it has so long tried to avoid.
"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.
The 1930’s and 1940’s were years in which the world was seriously concerned about economy. In 1929, The United States, the world’s economical power, was one of the most affected nations by the great depression: its unemployment rate rose to 25% and the personal income, tax revenue and prices dropped. Many families within the country started to starve and the McCourts were not the exception. Malachy could not get any work to support his family due to the difficult situation in the country, and when he finally found one, he wasted all his wages and money in the pub. Frank’s life in America has good and bad memories. However, the great depression is present in the crisis the family fell into and in the unemployment of Malachy.
Davey, Graham. "Mental Health & Stigma." . Psychology Today, 20 Aug. 2013. Web. 20 Apr.
In 1929 the United States had entered an economic slump known as the Great Depression. The Great Depression was the longest financial decline in American history. The sudden, devastating collapse of US stock market prices on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday, was just the beginning of this economic decline. The Great Depression changed society, socially and economically in many ways, including: family life, crime rates, and businesses.
Meningitis is a disease caused by inflammation of the protective membrane of the brain and spinal cord, called the meninges. Usually meningitis is caused by either a bacteria or a virus, but in less common cases, meningitis can possibly be caused by certain medications or injuries. The most common way that meningitis is contracted is by bacteria or viruses that infect the body and spread from the bloodstream to the meninges by cerebrospinal fluid. Viral meningitis is more frequently seen and is not usually severe. In more serious cases, viral meningitis may cause prolonged fever or seizures. On the other hand, bacterial meningitis is very serious and must be treated immediately in order to prevent brain damage or even death. Both types of meningitis share the same symptoms which makes it very important to see a doctor to determine the severity of the disease. The severity of meningitis depends on a person's age, health, and also the cause. Meningitis can range from very mild to very severe. The likely hood of death is highest in someone who suffered a seizure in the first 24 hours, ...
During 2007 in India there was a large outbreak of meningococcal meningitis with 128 infected.
This essay will attempt to outline and explain the effects that stigma attached to mental health issues may have on one’s life and strategies for over coming self-stigma as well as public stigma. I will first explain stigma in the context of mental health and briefly explain the detriments this can have on a person’s life followed by a more in-depth analysis of the aforementioned stigmas. I will follow this up with strategies and models for disabling both public and self-stigma as a result of mental health.
Rupke, S., Blecke, D., & Renfrow, M. (2006, January 1). Cognitive therapy for depression. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16417069?dopt=Abstract
School boards need to teach the subject, the dark perception of mental disorders needs to be lifted, and judgements need to be removed. In order for people to understand the issue, affected individuals need to be able to feel safe to speak out. Friends and families need to make an effort to understand mental disorders to provide support instead of derogatory labels. Teachers should provide extra time and accommodated assignments to reduce intensity of mental health issues within students. Mental illnesses are not the same as physical illnesses, therefore they should not be treated the same. Mental disorders are serious illnesses but they cannot be solved by natural sciences and medication. Increase of education and support is the solution to mental health issues and stigmas, because they will create an understanding within society. Only understanding the situation will spark support for research and treatments. The most prominent issue which stresses mental disorders is the lack of understanding which leaves affected individuals isolated. There has been more awareness of mental health through prominent figures speaking out, the creation of organizations such as DART, NIMH, and SPEAK at Central Academy, and increased funds such as the National Mental Health Fund. Progress still needs to be continuously made to resolve mental health stigmas and
Bacterial meningitis-inflammation usually caused by an infection that effects the brain and spinal cord cells
Mental health can be a sensitive subject to most of society. “In two identical UK public opinion surveys… over 80% [of participants] endors[ed] the statement that ‘most people are embarrassed by mentally ill people’, and about 30% agreeing ‘I am embarrassed by mentally ill persons’” (Byrne 65). People with a mental illness are thought of as including but not limited to: child-like, weak, and even dangerous. This stigma on people with mental illness(es) can have a negative impact on their lives. This stigma can affect their jobs, relationships, treatment, and overall happiness among other things. The stigma surrounding mental illness has been negatively impacting mental health for decades. The public, the media, and people in the mental health