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An essay about the great depression in 1930 in america
An essay about the great depression in 1930 in america
An essay about the great depression in 1930 in america
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While most people struggle throughout the 1930's depression, the elite, including Arnold Rutherford, are enjoying life to its fullest. For instance, as Arnold likes to reiterate: It's a jungle out there. Except that, as he will find out, there are distinct and widely different jungles out there. Indeed, the merciless wildness of one of them tucked away, between Panama and Colombia, will teach him a lesson he will never forget. Because, of course, his grand, New-York City lifestyle, has not prepared the egotistical man, for a search and collect expedition, that requires constant battle against mother nature. Ultimately, deep into “The Darien Gap”, will Arnold win or lose this fight?
Many people were puzzled on why the young man decided to go on such an expedition without being properly prepared. His death has led to a controversy between whether he should be idolized for having the courage to follow his dream or repulsed for his grand stupidity. Although Krakauer never met McCandless, he provides his readers with personal examples that explain why the young man went on this journey. Expecting his readers to comprehend McCandless, Krakauer’s primary purpose is to help his readers understand the importance of embracing one's personal dreams. In order to achieve his purpose, he uses a variation of literary and rhetorical techniques. Some of these techniques include epigrams and ethos. These devices are essential to Krakauer’s purpose because they illustrate and explain the reasons why McCandless went into the inhospitable landscape of Alaska.
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.
In the world of economic competition that we live in today, many thrive and many are left to dig through trashcans. It has been a constant struggle throughout the modern history of society. One widely prescribed example of this struggle is Upton Sinclair's groundbreaking novel, The Jungle. The Jungle takes the reader along on a journey with a group of recent Lithuanian immigrants to America. As well as a physical journey, this is a journey into a new world for them. They have come to America, where in the early twentieth century it was said that any man willing to work an honest day would make a living and could support his family. It is an ideal that all Americans are familiar with- one of the foundations that got American society where it is today. However, while telling this story, Upton Sinclair engages the reader in a symbolic and metaphorical war against capitalism. Sinclair's contempt for capitalist society is present throughout the novel, from cover to cover, personified in the eagerness of Jurgis to work, the constant struggle for survival of the workers of Packingtown, the corruption of "the man" at all levels of society, and in many other ways.
In John Krakauer’s novel Into The Wild, the reader follows the life of a young man who, upon learning of his father’s infidelity and bigamy, seems to go off the deep end, isolating himself by traveling into the wild country of Alaska, unprepared for survival, where he died of starvation at 67 pounds.
Jon Krakauer, fascinated by a young man in April 1992 who hitchhiked to Alaska and lived alone in the wild for four months before his decomposed body was discovered, writes the story of Christopher McCandless, in his national bestseller: Into the Wild. McCandless was always a unique and intelligent boy who saw the world differently. Into the Wild explores all aspects of McCandless’s life in order to better understand the reason why a smart, social boy, from an upper class family would put himself in extraordinary peril by living off the land in the Alaskan Bush. McCandless represents the true tragic hero that Aristotle defined. Krakauer depicts McCandless as a tragic hero by detailing his unique and perhaps flawed views on society, his final demise in the Alaskan Bush, and his recognition of the truth, to reveal that pure happiness requires sharing it with others.
Krakauer, Jon. Into the wild. New York: Anchor Books , a division of Random House Inc.,, 1997. Print.
“Freedom was in the very air Californians breathed, for the country offered a unique and seductive drought of liberty. People were free from censure, from Eastern restrictions, from societal expectations.”1
mountains. Mrs. Arnold finds it impossible to cope with the quality of life in the
The world of Ernest Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River” exists through the mostly unemotional eyes of the character Nick. Stemming from his reactions and the suppression of some of his feelings, the reader gets a sense of how Nick is living in a temporary escape from society and his troubles in life. Despite the disaster that befell the town of Seney, this tale remains one of an optimistic ideal because of the various themes of survival and the continuation of life. Although Seney itself is a wasteland, the pine plain and the campsite could easily be seen as an Eden, lush with life and ripe with the survival of nature.
The Donner Party encountered one of the most paramount hardships a set of travelers could possibly fathom. This historical catastrophe involves eighty-one inexperienced emigrants who traveled in hopes of reaching the land that’s come to be known as California. Forty-seven of said travelers have met series unfortunate events from many contributing factor (PBS). The most horrible and misleading factor of all was the human mind and its insistent need to discover and subjugate everything, whether within reach or not in the shortest and fastest way possible (A&E). The aspect of taking the shortest route that led to one’s inevitable downfall, and in some cases, to death, of the Donner Party. The amount of tragedies about travelers who’ve ran out of food, experienced bad weather, or even getting raided by Native American Indian were endless, but this is a story like no other. It's one of the greatest calamities of all time, however few of us know the unabridged story. Their determination to outlive the odds is ultimately greater than the social taboos that took place during this time period (Bell).
So what’s wrong with California now? The only problem is the tremendous amount of debt accumulated over the years. What makes people think that Arnold will be able to restore California? At one of his campaign tours around the state, people waited two hours to hear him s...
Kampton, Drew. The Way of the Surfer: Living it 1935 to Tomorrow. New York: Henry N. Adams
Leone, Bruno. San Diego: Green Haven Press, Inc., 1988. Print. The. Waytz, Adam. A.
In April of 1992 a young man named Chris McCandless, from a prosperous and loving family, hitchhiked across the country to Alaska. He gave $25,000 of his savings to charity, left his car and nearly all of his possessions. He burned all the cash he had in his wallet, and created a new life. Four months later, his body was found in an abandoned bus. Jon Krakauer constructed a journalistic account of McCandless’s story. Bordering on obsession, Krakauer looks for the clues to the mystery that is Chris McCandless. What he finds is the intense pull of the wilderness on our imagination, the appeal of high-risk activities to young men. When McCandless's mistakes turn out to be fatal he is dismissed for his naiveté. He was said by some to have a death wish, but wanting to die and wanting to see what one is capable of are too very different things. I began to ask myself if Chris really wasn’t as crazy as some people thought. Then I realized it was quite possible that the reason people thought he was crazy was because he had died trying to fulfill his dream. If he had walked away from his adventure like Krakauer, people would have praised him rather than ridicule. So I asked the question, “How does Krakauer’s life parallel Chris McCandlesses?”
McCandless is convinced that his relationship with nature is more profound and honest than that of his relationship with people. Krakauer deduces that McCandless’s decision to be a vagabond is due to the “threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it” (Krakauer 55). McCandless’s fear of “human intimacy” and “friendship” unravel his true purpose of escaping civilization, which is to break away from burdening others by his imperfections. McCandless presumes that nature would provide him reassurance because it does not doubt his choices and require him to explain himself for any of his actions. Due to this misconception, McCandless has misled himself into thinking that he is refraining others from