During the 1930s, the US faced one of its most challenging times, the Great Depression, which left a giant scar on society. Joel and Ethan Coel's film, “O Brother, Where Art Thou” shows a vivid image of this time period through the eyes of three convicts who had escaped chainlinked together, traveling through the South in search of treasure. You can see how the Great Depression affected these characters through their lifestyles. The Great Depression significantly affected the character’s actions, evident in the men turning to crime out of desperation, the inclusion of the KKK, and glamorizing bank robberies. During the Great Depression, economic hardship drove many individuals to the brink of desperation, compelling them to resort to unlawful means for survival. In …show more content…
One being robbing a supermarket, another for practicing law without having the proper license, and the last being a mystery. This illustrates the desperation and hopelessness that took over society during this era. The socioeconomic change of the Great Depression dramatically heightened racial tensions, which led to the reinforcement of hate groups against all types of religions, cultures, and ethnicities, such as the Klu Klux Klan. The presence of the KKK in the film serves as a strong reminder of the racial tensions exaggerated by the economic hardship. The Klan's activities, such as burning the crosses and the pursuit of the protagonists, highlight the social disturbance and biased opinions in the South during this time period. Their inclusion underscores the persuasive fear and discrimination faced by the communities. The glamorization of bank robberies emerged as a striking phenomenon during the Great Depression, with notorious outlaws like “Bonnie and Clyde” capturing the public imagination. “O Brother, Where Art Thou” also glamorizes bank robberies, portraying them as daring and exciting adventures rather than criminal
In Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1939: Decades of Promise and Pain, author David E. Kyvig, creates historical account of the Great Depression, and the events leading up to it. Kyvig’s goal in writing this book was to show how Americans had to change their daily life in order to cope with the changing times. Kyvig utilizes historical evidence and inferences from these events and developments to strengthen his point. The book is organized chronologically, recounting events and their effects on American culture. Each chapter of the book tackles a various point in American history between 1920 and1939 and events are used to comment on American life at the time. While Kyvig does not exactly have a “thesis” per se, his main point is to examine American life under a microscope, seeing how people either reacted, or were forced to react due to a wide range of specific events or developments in history, be it Prohibition, the KKK, or women’s suffrage.
The film, the Cinderella Man is a biographical film following the life of boxer James J. Braddock during the Great Depression. Movies such as Seabiscuit always over-exaggerate the horrible lives of people during the Great Depression. However, the Cinderella man correctly shows the life through the 1930s and accurately portrays the struggles during the Great Depression. The director, Ron Howard, depicts the depression perfectly and gives the viewer a sense of what life was like during that time by using emotions, body language as well as technical appearance.
The Cinderella Man In the movie the Cinderella man who is called James jay Braddock and he is a fighter and in his first fight he broke his hand and had a cast on for 6-8 weeks when he broke his hand the second time he got deregisted from the boxing industry until his hand was healed he could get back into the boxing industry so he could fight again and he fights to keep his family out of poverty. At the start of the movie he was fighting a boxer and he won a lot of money and then in a week or two he had no money left to feed his wife and children and he suffered in the great depression badly cause it was hard to get a job to earn money to get food for his family and one of his kids got sick so he went down to the docks to get work to earn Money
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.
The young, recently married farmers living in the Great Plains during the 1930s had a terrible life. First off, being married meant having multiple people to provide for. This is more responsibility, and leads to dividing up the food between family members. Then, the country was also in an economic downturn, so the price of food and crops were low. Farmers already had debt because of new machines and land that was purchased during World War I to keep up with the demand during the war. Then the depression caused banks to fail, so farmers lost all their money that was in the bank. Everyday life was treacherous, and there were few amenities in the home, with no plumbing or electricity. Life was awful for a farmer during the Great Depression.
While some things listed are true its far fetched to group the entire South as being those things. Unfortunately, in the film, O Brother Where Art Thou, the main characters Everett, Delmar and Pete do fit some of those stereotypical characteristics. All of those men escaped from chain gang in hopes of finding treasure that Everett had said he buried before going to jail. The setting of the really did not help either when trying to limit the stereotypes because it is placed during the time of the Depression. Many of the men in the South during the Depression were poor and often had trouble feeding their families. For example, when the men escaped they traveled to see Pete’s cousin Wash in where they encounter Wash’s son asking if, “they are the bank.” After Wash realizes there might be a possible reward for turning the fugitives in he calls the police. Wash’s explanation for doing it was because he needed to feed his son. Another example would be when Big Dan tricked Everett and Delmar into eating lunch out by the countryside just to rob them of their money. Big Dan was able to deceive the men
Even though the economy was on the move, the 1920s was an important time in regards to anxiety and intolerance. The KKK and gangs are causing a lot of disruption in America. The KKK was upset because of the new times in America. They were not accustomed to the change that was going on in America. They were deeply upset and lashed out in opposition by holding marches and cross burnings.
The Great Depression was a time in American history where economic difficulties affected almost every person. It could turn the “best of the best” into just another beggar on the street. It is difficult for a movie to portray the true struggles of people who lives during that time. Although Cinderella Man is a fictional account of the life of Ray Braddock, it is an accurate portrayal of the problems faced by many Americans during the Great Depression. The struggles of daily life during the depression, references to problems later addressed by the New Deal, and social issues brought on by the Great Depression are all realistically described in this movie.
The Great Depression was a period, which seemed to go out of control. The crashing of the stock markets left most Canadians unemployed and in debt, prairie farmers suffered immensely with the inability to produce valuable crops, and the Canadian Government and World War II became influential factors in the ending of the Great Depression.
The 1930’s were a decade plagued by the colossus economic downturn known as the Great Depression. With unemployment levels surpassing 20%, people did anything to earn money. This included riding the rail lines in order to look for work in other cities. In the American South, the problems of economic downturn and the problems of racial tension met in 1931 during the court case of the Scottsboro Boys.
Great Depression was one of the most severe economic situation the world had ever seen. It all started during late 1929 and lasted till 1939. Although, the origin of depression was United Sattes but with US Economy being highly correlated with global economy, the ill efffects were seen in the whole world with high unemployment, low production and deflation. Overall it was the most severe depression ever faced by western industrialized world. Stock Market Crashes, Bank Failures and a lot more, left the governments ineffective and this lead the global economy to what we call today- ‘’Great Depression’’.(Rockoff). As for the cause and what lead to Great Depression, the issue is still in debate among eminent economists, but the crux provides evidence that the worst ever depression ever expereinced by Global Economy stemed from multiple causes which are as follows:
To the nations rescue, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected and provided many alternative solutions for the repair of America. Roosevelt supplied hundreds of thousands with jobs. He also had acts passed that saved banks and found solutions to protect American jobs. The beginning of World War II marked the ultimate end of the depression.
October 29th, 1929 marked the beginning of the Great Depression, a depression that forever changed the United States of America. The Stock Market collapse was unavoidable considering the lavish life style of the 1920’s. Some of the ominous signs leading up to the crash was that there was a high unemployment rate, automobile sales were down, and many farms were failing. Consumerism played a key role in the Stock Market Crash of 1929 because Americans speculated on the stocks hoping they would grow in their favor. They would invest in these stocks at a low rate which gave them a false sense of wealth causing them to invest in even more stocks at the same low rate. When they purchased these stocks at this low rate they never made enough money to pay it all back, therefore contributing to the crash of 1929. Also contributing to the crash was the over production of consumer goods. When companies began to mass produce goods they did not not need as many workers so they fired them. Even though there was an abundance of goods mass produced and at a cheap price because of that, so many people now had no jobs so the goods were not being purchased. Even though, from 1920 to 1929, consumerism and overproduction partially caused the Great Depression, the unequal distribution of wealth and income was the most significant catalyst.
The Great Depression hit the U.S hard during the 1930’s when the stock market crashed in 1929 . It caused a lot of people to go into unemployment. The African Americans were hit the hardest. By 1932, half of the African Americans were unemployed. Even though the U.S was hit with the Great Depression, it affected many other countries.
The Great Depression was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downfall in the history of the United Sates. No event has yet to rival The Great Depression to the present day today although we have had recessions in the past, and some economic panics, fears. Thankfully the United States of America has had its shares of experiences from the foundation of this country and throughout its growth many economic crises have occurred. In the United States, the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors ("The Great Depression."). In turn from this single tragic event, numerous amounts of chain reactions occurred.