Goodwin Analysis

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The fifties era was an era of consensus and order. As a family, there was a certain image to live up to in order fit into the American dream; however, a family only had to appear American and while it may be argued that Doris Goodwin succeeded in life because she grew up in a typical household in the fifties, that is not the case, and in fact, Goodwin’s life in the fifties did not live up to the stereotypical idea of the fifties time period. The image of being American during the fifties was based on consensus which was seen through the typical American neighborhood. All families were religious, the dads went to work while the moms stayed home and the children were at school, and each family had a favorite baseball team; however, it was not the idea of consensus that allowed Goodwin to succeed in life. (Anderson Class note, “Life at Home in the 50’s” 3 April 2014; Anderson Class notes, “Book Discussion” 8 April 2014) In the fifties, it was assumed of American families to be active Church goers in their respective religions; however, the idea of consensus didn’t quiet live up to its expectations. Families could all be the same through being religious, but still remain separate by believing in different religions. While the idea of consensus was certainly playing a role in that all people were religious, the safe conflict of being different still remained. Goodwin discusses in her book that everyone in her neighborhood was religious, and that her neighbors were active in attending Church services as was her family as well being Catholic. In general, religion laid out how people should behave in a black and white fashion in order to achieve salvation; however, the rules didn’t always match up with what a person wanted to do. For exa... ... middle of paper ... ...et in the World Series. The idea of consensus doesn’t operate well when people acknowledge their differences because consensus requires people to believe they are all alike (Anderson Class notes “Book Discussion” 8 April 2014; Goodwin pp. 61-62; Goodwin pp. 64) In conclusion, it is seen that while the fifties was believed to be an era of consensus, families managed to find small ways to remain different. Goodwin’s success doesn’t come from the idea of consensus during the fifties; however, it comes from her religious background which taught her a methodical approach in order to achieve things she wanted, her parents doing the best they could despite circumstances the family faced, and her love for baseball taught her that even though someone liked or even believed something different than she did, the relationship she shared with that person did not have to suffer.

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