Clifford Odets Awake And Sing

During the Depression, an orange is way more than a piece of citrus fruit. For Moe, in Clifford Odets play Awake and Sing, an orange represents the financial status of better. Whether living in or just coming to visit the Berger zoo, you must settle for an apple rather than a luxurious orange. “No oranges, huh? -what a dump!” (49) Based on Moe’s reaction to the Berger family not having any oranges, they are worse off than other folks. The Berger’s are not starved and homeless, but they are in a “struggle for life amidst petty conditions” (37). In Awake and Sing, Clifford Odets shifts the spotlight a bit from worker’s woes and places marriage and family center stage. Through vibrant characters and a true to life storyline, Odets Berger home tour reveals how economic burdens due to the Depression have annihilated the marital and family unit.
Odets uses Uncle Morty to make a strong case against marriage by stating that, “to raise a family nowadays, you must be a damn fool” (62). Ralph feels that life ought to afford him at least the option to say I do. To his mother Ralph proclaims, “don’t I have some rights in the world?” (83) Unfortunately for Ralph, bleak financial circumstances surrounding day to day life left no place for love. According to Jacob, what should be brewing in the heart of Ralph rather

For instance, family roles are backwards. Bessie wears the pants while Myron lets her run the show. Ralph and Hennie are the children, yet they have to not only financially contribute to the household, but help sustain it. Odets successfully uses each member of the Berger family to reveal how the Depression is taking a toll on each level of the family. Economic strain is well on its way to destroying the ideal American family design. For the sake of survival, the Berger family appears to be tossing aside their moral compasses. Well, “Marx said it-abolish such families”