Monday, December 20, 2010
UNIVERSAL THEME #1: Human Suffering
Enriched by our reading experiences, sharing specific examples from the novel and the short stories provides the chance to internalize key themes. Dig deep. Provide an example from one work that reflects the theme listed. Establish the context of your example. Quotes are ecouraged. Be sure to read through the entire post; do not use the same examples as classmates.
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The Great Depression was one of the most depressing times of American history, clearly stated in the name. How is it then that so many people survived, and thrived, during this time? "How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but in the wretched bellies of his children? You can't scare him--he has known a fear beyond every other." (Chapter 19) The only solace could be found in those who were suffering right along with them. The Wilsons, the Wainwrights, and the other migrants were the only ones the Joads could relate to. Sone of the most painful times are those without others. Fourtunately, the suffering of the Joads could be dwindled with knowing they weren't alone. The Great Depression was truly an awful time to live through, but with a little help from their friends, living was possible.
ReplyDeleteSuffering. The dictionary definitions says this... To undergo, or to feel pain or distress. I think this pretty much sums up what it means to suffer. However if you really want to look at what it means to suffer, then we must look the the great depression. Much like the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath, my great grandfather struggled to put food on the table. Let's face it, us as Americans love to eat, it's just one of the things that make us who we are. But during the great depression the Joad family and My family alike STRUGGLED to put a meal on the table for their children. In The Grapes of Wrath, the Joads have some bread and 2 pigs. once they Butcher the meat, they leave for California. With only 2 pigs and some bread, it wasn't enough to feed over 8 people who took the trip, henceforth Grandma and Grandpa Joad and both passed away on the trip out west.
ReplyDeleteI think Ma Joad suffers the most of any character in Grapes. Anyone agree? Can you provide some examples? Can you offer evidence of another Grapes character who suffers more? What about the shorter works? Let's establish some concrete "sufferers" using quotes and examples from the literature. I think Molly's entry touches on how vivid Steinbeck language helps reveal the depths of suffering. Andrew's reference to the minimal food supplies the Joads must rely on gets me thinking about human physical limitations as well. (Neither Grampa, Grandma Joad, or Rose of Sharon's baby could survive the physical strains.) How much suffering can the human spirit endure? Share examples from the resources!
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ReplyDelete"Let America Be America Again" by Langston Hughes is a great example of the suffering humans endure, and at the hands of other humans none the less. This "young man, full of strength and hope" is not able to make his own decisions, for he is "servant to you all," a reference to white people. He is not free, and neither are the "millions on relief... Millions shot down when [they] strike." life has been unkind to those, even those who have held hope, who dreamt of a new American life. The incredible suffering this man has seen incredibly did not dampen his spirits as to the potential of the nation to refresh itself. Or only can humans suffer greatly, they can be resilient enough to keep their hopes alive
ReplyDelete"It's not the suffering of birth, death, love that the young reject, but the suffering of endless labor without dream, eating the spare bitterness, being a slave without the security of a slave." says Meridel Le Suer in "Women on the Breadlines". Le Suer gives such profound insight to the nature of suffering in the depression; this all encompassing statement transcends many facets of depression and hardship as have been portrayed by the literary works of this era. Le Suer remarks that the young are not immature and unrealistic with their expectations of suffering; she states only that the youth of her time would not compromise their morality in purposeless labor, in knowing eating the last of the food will mean less for those you are for, and in condemning oneself to slave-like labor, without even the assurance of work to compensate. She makes this distinction in the kind of suffering that youth will reject at the end of her narrative "Women on the Breadlines". With the stream of consciousness of a surely suffering woman, Meridel Le Suer gives a powerful insight into the heart of these women, and uses this perspective as a viewpoint from which she can observe human suffering.
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