In the novel Mary Coin by Marisa Silver, we see the hardships a traveling widow with seven children can endure while trying to survive the Great Depression. Such hardships could be finding work, food a place to stay, and means of transportation. “It was severe in others, particularly in the United States, where, at its nadir in 1933, 25 percent of all workers and 37 percent of all nonfarm workers were completely out of work. Some people starved; many others lost their farms and homes” (Smiley, 2008). During these times, making a living was hard to come, making it very difficult for people on their own to survive. A single mother with seven children to feed and care for at this time would have been extremely difficult, especially with no father …show more content…
figure. Throughout the novel the main character Mary Coin has three “romantic relationship that the author goes into detail about and how and what these relationship benefitted her and at times make her life even more difficult. These three men contributed to how she lived and where she lived. The bigger question comes down to this. What did each of these relationships mean to her? Mary Coin’s first romantic relationship started with Toby.
It started at a young age; she would do what typical girls do. She would secretly spy on him whenever she got the chance, or try to snatch his attention by any means necessary. It was her first crush she had and she would do anything to get he’s attention. When a man came to town wanting pictures of Native Americans in garments worn years and years ago by the wrong tribe. She volunteered to be in one of the pictures dressed as a Native American not for the money that was being handed out, she did it so she could get Toby’s attention so he would notice her. “But all she could think of was Toby’s eyes on her naked shoulder” (Silver, 2013, pg.47). At one point she showed a little bit of skin on her shoulder to draw his attention even more. Unfortunately for her, she was unable to grab his attention. This however, wasn’t her only way of seeing him or trying to snatch his gaze. She also worked at his father’s house as servant to his stepmother. Every time she had a chance she got she tried to sneak a peak of him no matter where he was at. This relationship seemed more of a young girl’s fantasy. Similar to a high schooler going after her crush no matter who it maybe. This relationship, never the less, was an immature phase between the two of them. It seems like it’s between the point of a crush and moving into a legitimate …show more content…
relationship. Once they were finally married, something changed in her. She started to realize all the small things about him that she didn’t like about him. At this point it was an eye opener that this was permanent; that she would now be stuck with him for the rest of her life, or at least until he or she died. It seemed that the little girl crush mist that clouded her vision had lifted and now she saw him finally for who he and what he was. He was sickly and not very wealthy, but she married him and that was then end of that. This relationship however was her first true love, in a sense, and there was no way of changing that. Her first marriage seemed to be more personal where she actually felt a loving connection between Toby and herself, and not just someone to pass the time with. There was a mutual attraction to one another. He was her back bone throughout their marriage. There was mutual help looking after the children and bringing in enough money to care for everyone within the household. It may have been a different kind of relationship, but it was a strong one between Mary and Toby. Mary Coin’s second relationship wasn’t at all the same as the first one. She didn’t have the feeling for Charlie Dodge in the beginning like she did with Toby. She as a matter of fact didn’t want anything to do with him in the beginning, but as time went on and things changed so did her mind as well. After Toby died she bounced around finding work in order to feed and take care of her children. She eventually ended up work on a farm owned by the Dodge family. Charlie Dodge, the owner of the farm, fancied Mary and tried flirting with her. In the beginning Mary had no interest in him and she was curious as to what he saw in her. However, eventually she did eventually did fall for him in a way. Even when she didn’t see him, he was watching her. ”She felt his eyes on her as she climbed up and down the ladder” (Silver, 2013, pg.148). Looking at this, it is as if what she did to Toby when she was younger is now happening to her in a similar aspect. She saw something in the man that eventually intrigued her. Charlie was very interested in her and her past, for example, he asked her questions about family where she was from so on so forth. This relationship meant to her, something similar to Toby, but she didn’t have the same passion for Charlie than she did for Toby. This could have been due to the fact that she had six mouths to feed and care for with a seventh on the way. It wasn’t until later in the book that we saw that her picture was kept in a poem book that was given to Walker, Charlie’s grandson. This could be a sign that he truly did have feelings for Mary, but he waited too long to reveal them to her and she was gone. Either way Mary ended up leaving the farm but it wouldn’t be that last time their paths would cross. Upon leaving the farm Earl, her children and herself.
He was also a farm hand at the time as well. Mary was able to get ahold of a car and once Earl found out about it he wanted to go with her just to find work elsewhere. Although not completely for it, Mary agrees to him tagging along. In a sense as a helping hand if want. Another look at it was how well he got along with the children. “… She couldn’t help but feel grateful when the children begged him for another story” (Silver, 2013, pg.158). It was as if she was able to get away from it all in a way where she wasn’t constantly looking over her shoulder worrying about this child or if this child got into something. Even though she wasn’t relaxing she wasn’t worrying about everything at once
anymore. The last relationship with Earl seemed to have more value than the previous relationship with Charlie, in a different aspect. This relationship may have been physical like the previous two, but this seemed to be more of a mutually beneficial type. In other words the kind where you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours type of relationship. The children were fond of him while they were still at the farm camp. He would come around some days to tell them a joke or two; it was his way of making a bad situation a little lighter by lifting the mood. It was a second set of eyes that could help watch the children. He tried to help her in many ways. “Other times, if she had to stop work in the fields to nurse, he might walk by and casually drop a few heads of cauliflower into her bushel basket to make up for her lost time” (Silver, 2013, pg.158). He showed a little compassion to her and helped her by trying to give her more money by showing that she did more work than what she was able to since she had to stop. He shared whatever wages he had with her to help out as much as he could. Mary helped him through the car that she had, before he met her he would move around by foot to get from one farm camp to another. This was one way of not being as tired and could eventually make more money due to the fact that he could get around faster. In conclusion, Mary had these romantic relationships for a variety of reasons and meant to her in several ways. Toby being her first lover and in a sense her “true love”. She had actually feeling for him. There was a mutual bond between the two of them. The first relationship represented love and affection and how people feel for one another especially in hard times like the Great Depression. Throughout her journey she dealt with a lot of hardship that would have made an average person break due to the stress that she went through. However, she did not, she powered through it with the help of several men in her life. Even if these men at one point or another did cause her more pain, stress, and suffering. They did however help her in a multitude of ways. One showed her what true love felt like and the meaning of having a mutual bond between one another. The second relationship with Charles Dodge helped out with taking care of her seven children with minimal rewards in return. There were eventually mutual feeling between the two of them but weren’t strong enough to keep them together. The last relationship was a mutual relationship that benefitted everyone in the process. All in all, she walked away a changed woman from the time she started out.
Having watched the movie "Grapes of Wrath", I have been given the opportunity to see the troubles that would have befell migrant workers during the Great Depression. Though the Joads were a fictitious family, I was able to identify with many signs of hope that they could hold onto. Some of these families who made the journey in real life carried on when all they had was hope. The three major signs of hope which I discovered were, overcoming adversity, finding jobs, and completing the journey.
As with many disasters, the effect on individuals was varied, although with unemployment at 28% (not including eleven million struggling farm workers (Clements, page 74)), it is doubtful that anyone totally escaped the effects of the Depression. Amongst the worst affected were men who became known as Hoboes- migrants who travelled the USA frantically searching for work. According to a testimony by Louis Banks (Cements, page 74), many men were so in need they regularly risked their lives hitching on trains to try and find employment- if they didn’t fall, there was always the chance of being shot by the train police. This sense of mortal desperation is apparent in much of the evidence- “A man over forty might as well go out and shoot himself”
the Great Depression did not have adequate food, shelter, or medical care” (2). So, the AAA
The Great Depression was brought about through various radical economic practices and greatly affected the common man of America. Although all Americans were faced with the same fiscal disparity, a small minority began to exploit those in distress. Along the trek westward from Oklahoma, the Joad family met a grand multitude of adversity. However, this adversity was counteracted with a significant amount of endurance exhibited by the Joads and by generalized citizens of America.
McElvaine, Robert S, ed. Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1983.
Because of these factors I can make the assumption that Mary is actually bi-racial and the child of Mrs.Bellmont and a past black slave. It is shown in the book’s glossary that such things, as expected, were taboo and looked down upon. Many mothers would never tell just who the father of their bi-racial child was. “Wilson underscores the politics of skin color under which enslaved and legitimate children in the same family resembled each other, while white women would rather not have the family resemblance spoken of.”
Mary is shown as the leader of the pack , and the matriarch of the family. Mary’s personality was confident , charisamiatic and compassionate. The members’ of Jesus’ family didn’t completely understand his position in the family. Mark showed that Jesus reset the limitations of family involvement. He displayed how Jesus was trying to get his teachings to more and more individuals. He accepted several individuals into his ‘family’ . Mark was indiciating that members of communities need to operate as tight knit families , and work with eachother instead of against. Women were clearly a part of the new version of famiy that Jesus proposed.
Mary found an escape from the family problems in 1836. She was 18, and had completed boarding school and was now leaving home. Her two sisters, Elizabeth and Frances, had already moved to Springfield, Illinois. Mary visited her sisters often and in 1839 moved to Springfield to live with Frances and her husband, William Wallace (Baker 79).After spending some time in Springfield, Mary started to look for a husband. It's been said that "social affairs became critical episodes for women in their twenties, who soon must marry or be old maids" (82). The fear of being an old maid caused h...
The United States has provided food, shelter and education for the past 75 years. When the Great Depression hit many families suffered. It was estimated that one-fourth of the labor workforce was unemployed during the hardest time of the depression. Many families were living in poverty and needed assistance in order to live through the hard time many were faced...
People, especially blacks, were being put out of work everywhere; the wave of depression had hit the entire country. Banks were failing, and the cities, in a desperate attempt to provide relief, were running out of money. Because President Hoover was confident that business conditions would soon improve, federal funds were not used to provide relief; relief was the responsibility of private charities. City allowances soon ran out, and there was no money left. Pennies were used to buy food and fuel. Many people went without food in order to p...
During The Great Depression, people had to find ways to save money on even the bare necessities. One example of this was the widespread use of vacant lots, and land provided bythe cities to grow food. Americans now had to live in the manner of their ancestors, making their own clothing, growing their own food, and agai...
Mary Tudor or Queen Mary I of England was infamously known as Bloody Mary. While many believe Bloody Mary was an evil monster, others believe she was a great queen because of her many accomplishments. Mary was actually a good devoted Catholic others still to this day believe she was an evil woman, but with these interesting facts it will be determined that Mary was a good queen.
The 1800’s and early 1900’s brought about major changes to families and to the economy. People began to move away from farms and into cities where there were jobs. People began to rely solely on themselves rather than their extended families for support. As industrialization began machines began to take over work that was previously done by people. People found it increasingly hard to find work that could sustain their needs. People who were from vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, had a difficult time getting their needs met. People began to have a real need for social welfare programs that were beyond what families and communities could provide. (Morales, Sheafor, 2000)
In American society today, childhood is considered a time for learning, exploration, and a chance for a child to make his or her mark on the world. Leading up to the Great Depression, however, childhood for working class children was seen in a different light. Working class children felt pressure to provide for their family, which inhibited them from getting an education and branching out on their own, while middle class children had a greater prospect for education because of the difference in wealth. The Great Depression brought hard times for all Americans and expanded the working class while shrinking the middle class. Because the working class children held close ties and responsibilities to their families and faced more poverty than the middle class, they had a lesser chance to move out of the working class as they had a commitment to work to support their families, or children without families had to support themselves, and had dimmer opportunities for education.
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots She became queen when she was only 6 days old. She was sent to France at age six to get married. She is the cousin of Queen Elizabeth I. Who is this elegant, yet struggling woman?