Great Depression Literature

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During the Great Depression, the social and political subjects were strained to the point of breaking, as the destroyed economy had affected many people’s views. One way to see this is through the literature and journalism that had appeared over the course of the period. Literature and journalism was one of the main voices that expressed much of the public’s thoughts, fears, and feelings. However, literature and journalism, depending on the author, attempted to ignore or overlook the Great Depression by writing about subjects not related or avoiding the subject in an attempt to satisfy the escapist desire in most people during the time. Not all of the literature during this time was challenging or demeaning. Much of it was soothing or calming in order to improve society’s morale. It allowed society to escape from the harsh conditions of the world and into the world of literature, where it can be interpreted as the reader desires. Two of the best selling novels of the decade were set in earlier eras, induced with a romantic setting: Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind (1936) and Hervey Allen’s Anthony Adverse (1933). These kinds of stories were highly upheld by the public because it had given them the opportunity to temporarily forget their own troubles and fantasize about the fortunes of others. On the flip side, some of the writing was straightforward about how bad the Great Depression really was and openly challenging America’s dominant values at the time. Some of the more significant pieces of literature depicted portraits of the meaning of how empty American life is. For example, Dos Passos’s trilogy U.S.A. (1930-1936) attacked what he believed was America’s love for objects, being materialistic, and so on. Nathanael West’s Miss Lonelyhearts (1933) told the story of an advice columnist who had discovered how terrible the sadness in others he talked with

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