Maycomb And The Great Depression Essay

“Tired old town...there was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see...” This quote, from To Kill a Mockingbird, represents how most of the people lived in Maycomb, Alabama and in communities across the United States. During the Great Depression, people in Maycomb suffered severely. Many people had nothing to do during the long, hot days, and, as a result, just sat around. When the Great Depression began, the people of Maycomb lost their jobs and their hope. Running parallel to the Great Depression, the Jim Crow laws were heavily enforced in the South. For many years, each of these greatly affected Maycomb and the nation as a whole.

The Great Depression was the deepest and longest lasting economic downturn in the history of the United states. People had nothing to do but stay at home as they had no money to go out and spend. Men and women had to scrape up money to keep their families healthy, and to keep a roof over their heads. Some families had to move out of their homes and live out on the streets in makeshift areas called Hoovervilles. Maycomb was also a very beat up town, buildings were

Although the story wasn’t real, the culture and ways of Maycomb were mirrored like all the towns and counties in the South. Most towns were broken down during that time period due to the lack of money and manpower from the Great Depression. There was “No hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with” This line describes how people suffered from the loss financially, which was caused by the overuse of credit. America was on the verge of collapse because of the Great Depression. With the Jim Crow laws dividing the country basically in two, the blacks and the whites, it seemed that the people would never come back together. For many years, each of these greatly affected Maycomb and the nation as a