Even though in the stories only two environmental phenomenon occurred, their impact on the citizens are comparable. Despite physical similarities, with citizens all covered in handkerchiefs and dense clouds. All characters were struck with a depression and hopelessness; for they all had to witness the erosion of the surroundings they were familiar with and did not have the power to do anything to fight back. In the story, Letter from the Dust Bowl, Caroline Henderson accurately describes the perspective of those farmers experiencing the Dust Bowl. One of the most telling descriptions given was her characterization of the physical surrounding and her reaction. “...we saw many pitiful reminders of broken hopes and apparently wasted effort...with everything now walled in or half buried by banks of drifted soil,- told a painful story of loss and disappointment”(Henderson 241). A telling depiction of how impossible the situation had become. Another description of the helplessness from the Dust Bowl can be taken from the story, The Grapes of Wrath, during the events the farmers have nothing to do but stare disoriented at their …show more content…
Here we get the perspective of a nurse/assistant during a terrible toxic fog in Donora, Pa. Her mood throughout the story is very melancholy and hopeless “the appearance of the office deepened her depression”. The first example of her shock came from a man begging for help because he was dying; “I just stood there. I was petrified”. The doctor she worked with was also stunned by the toxicity of this fog that suffocated the citizens. When the office was getting overwhelmed, the doctor ordered the nurse to close up; “ There wasn't anything to do but close up, but I’ve never felt so heartless”. This character specifically seemed to try to cope with her depression through smoking; and when the smoking made things worse she fell towards
Dust Bowl, The Southern Plains in the 30’s written by Donald Worster and published in 1979, is an informative text on the Great Plains during the Great Depression. Donald Worster is a credible author because he not only earned a Ph.D. from Yale in environmental history, but he also had previously written a book on the environment and the economy. This book was written well and Worster did a good job of revealing how people and how they live have effected the areas environment. He spoke of places including, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and many more.
1 The comparison allows people now to look back on the dust bowl and see how just one force, such as climate can go on to create mistreatment and an impoverished life for workers. Through the connection of this article in addition to Harvest Gypsies we can prevent such events noted from happening
“ The story highlights a very real and relatable experience about a family driven out of their home due to economic hardship and drought. Also known as “The Dirty Thirties,” the Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms causing major agricultural damage to the American west—especially the Oklahoma panhandle area, Kansas, and northern Texas. Farming methods at the time contributed to the severity of the problem. The arrival of farmers to the Great Plains created conditions for significant soil erosion during naturally occurring periods of cool sea surface water temperatures that regulate precipitation. “ http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/legacy/ 3.
The Dust Bowl: Between 1930 to 1940, in the southwestern region of the United States, as wheat had become in more and more high demand, Farmers began producing wheat at a much higher rate. Slowly more farmers were plowing fields which made the land basically bare because of all the dry fields. At the same time, some stronger winds were beginning to occur and a drought had come in the region. The fast winds kicked up all the dry dirt from the fields and sent it through the air creating clouds of dust soaring through the air. Nineteen states were affected by this dustbowl.
Dust Bowl and Economics of the 1930s The Dust Bowl was a very desperate and troublesome time for America. The southwestern territories were in turmoil due to the arid effect of the drought causing no fertile soils. As the rest of America was being dragged along with the stock market crash and higher prices of wheat and crops since the producing areas couldn't produce. This was a streak of bad luck for the Americans as they were in a deep despair for a quite some time.
In the 1930s there was an extremely long period of drought that happened in the Southern Plains of the United States. Not only did the area suffer severe dust storms that made crops fail throughout the entire region, but it caused the lives of many livestock and people to be taken away. This decade of dryness was known as the Dust Bowl. Although the Dust Bowl only lasted about 10 years, the economic impacts it had lasted for much longer. Some scientists believe it was the worst drought in North America in 300 years.
The dust bowl was considered the “Worst hard time” in american history. The Dust Bowl was a big cloud of dust that took place during the 1930’s in the middle of the Great Depression. The dust bowl was located in the southern great plains as it affected states like Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. The three main causes of the Dust Bowl were drought (Doc E), amount of land being harvest (Doc D), and the death shortgrass prairie (Doc C).
The Dust Bowl, beginning in the 1930s, added to the struggle of American farmers as lands out west in states such as Oklahoma and Kansas were over-plowed, causing the topsoil to become uprooted, creating massive dust storms. These dust storms left the land unusable to farm, displacing many Americans in the agricultural industry. Steinbeck’s The Harvest Gypsies displays the struggles these farmers faced when moving west to California, hoping to find some sort of work. Many displaced farmers lived in squatters’ camps, temporary dwellings for those looking for work. Steinbeck described these camps as having awful living conditions, saying that “From a distance it looks like a city dump, and well it may, for the city dumps are the sources for the material of which it is built.”
The storms took away people’s belongings, their pride, and their sense of protection. The Dust Bowl destroyed the Midwest extremely fast. Not all of it was lost, but the majority of it was. It was a dangerous time for all inhabitants of the Midwest. It caused problems everywhere, not just in the Midwest.
John Steinbeck, in the novel, Grapes of Wrath, identifies the hardships and struggle to portray the positive aspects of the human spirit amongst the struggle of the migrant farmers and the devastation of the Dust Bowl. Steinbeck supports his defense by providing the reader with imagery, symbolism and intense biblical allusions. The author’s purpose is to illustrate the migrant farmers in order to fully exploit their positive aspects in the midst of hardships. Steinbeck writes in a passionate tone for an audience that requires further understanding of the situation.
The dust bowl was caused by severe drought,bad farming and change of weather. During the 1930’s,severe drought,failure to know how to farm and to prevent wind erosions,the aeolian processes. The impact this disaster had on the society was scared,because people didn’t know if they were going to make it. Another impact this horrific disaster had on the society was all of their crops were destroyed.
The Historical Significance of the Dust Bowl In one of the most fertile places in the United States, one of the nation's worst disasters occurred, the Dust Bowl. It began when an area in the Midwest was severely affected by an intense drought throughout the 1930s or what proceeded to be called the Dirty Thirties. The drought killed crops that had kept the rich soil in place, and when the strong root system was not there the soil was not kept grounded. Due to the soil left with no crops, the high and strong winds blew the topsoil away.
The dust bowl is very serious. “But in the summer of 1931, the rains disappeared. Crops withered and died. There had always been strong winds and dust on the Plains, but now over plowing created conditions for disaster. There was dust everywhere, because the people couldve worried about others than themselves.
“With the gales came the dust. Sometimes it was so thick that it completely hid the sun. Visibility ranged from nothing to fifty feet, the former when the eyes were filled with dirt which could not be avoided, even with goggles ”( Richardson 59). The Dust Bowl was a huge dust storm in the 1930s that stretched from western Kansas to New Mexico. People that lived in that area could not step outside or they would get dust in their lungs.
Firstly, drought has always been a serious problem for the Great Plains region of the US for many years before the first Dust Bowl. During the movie and same scenes in the novel, it is considered that severe dust storms greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the U.S. big time. Meanwhile, the audience can feel the economic pressure during a quarter of the movie.