Baker's Mother example essay topic

In Russell Baker's autobiography, Growing Up, he vividly and humorously describes his life from his early childhood in the backwoods mountains of West Virginia, through the years in the Great Depression when his youth became greatly shaped. Reading Baker's book allows us to get a big picture of the effects of WWII on his life as well as the impact of the New Deal on his family. In his efforts to describe his life he introduced many important family members and provided a pure understanding of their way of life during those important years in America's history. Baker foreshadows himself sitting at his mother's bedside at the beginning of the book.

She could not even remember her son due to her old age and lack of memory. She still thought that he was a young boy. Baker continued to describe his life from his early childhood in the backwoods mountains of West Virginia in the proceeding chapters. We first meet his mom, Lucy Elizabeth, at a young age. We learn how she had a strong will to live and would not except anything less then what she wanted. That was exemplified in her desire to become a schoolteacher when women's education was not valued.

It was also shown in her dealings with Baker's father, Benny, and her goal to end his drinking habits. Her efforts to turn poor specimens of manhood into glittering prizes began long before she became Baker's mother (p. 28). She also believed that behind every successful man there was a good woman to be found (p. 29). We then begin to understand that more when she tells Baker he needed to make something of himself and she was determined to make him that way.

"I realized I would have to start with my mother and her passion for improving the male of the species, which in my case took the form of forcing me to "make something of myself (p. 16)". It was apparent that Baker was on the same page as his mother because he would eventually reach that dream. Lucy Elizabeth measured all men to "papa", her father. Lucy Elizabeth was expecting Baker out of wedlock and out-of-wedlock pregnancies were a fairly common place in Virginia (p. 34). She eventually met Ida Rebecca, her mother-in-law. Lucy was considered an outsider to her future mother-in-law.

When Russell was born the family continued to undergo many economic hardships. His father died at the age of 33 when he was only 5. He was informed of his father's death by his friend Kenneth. Baker described the impact of his father's death as well as his disbelief in God, "If God loves me why did he make my father die (p. 80)?" The death was very hard on Russell's two sisters, Doris and Audrey, as well. Russell, his mother, and his sister Doris eventually moved to Belleville, NJ. Audrey, Russell's sister of 10 months was adopted by Uncle Tom and Aunt Goldie who had never had a child of their own.

Uncle Tom was the most admired by Lucy Elizabeth out of all of Ida Rebecca's sons. The adoption of Audrey was a great example of the family's economic hardships because Lucy was unable to afford three children. It is in NJ, in the early 1900's, when the reader begins to see the beginning of the Great Depression. Baker gave a great description of the impact on his family as well as other families.

He was informed of other family impacts because talking was a depression pastime. Things began to take place such as the collapsing of the stock market and the falling of big businesses. Russell mentioned how president Hoover refused to use the scare word "recession" when speaking about the slump (p. 88). At that point in time Russell and his family were living with Uncle Allen, Lucy Elizabeth's brother who was helping the family. The family was still experiencing a great amount of poverty. The reader is again clued in to the amount of poverty the family was experiencing when they learn of Russell's mother's goal to remarry between her touching letters to Oluf and her dating Herbert.

The letters to Oluf during the Depression gave a great description of the need for money and relief during those horrible times. Another example of poverty was when Russell asked his mother if they were going on relief (p. 200). Relief was included in Roosevelt's policies of the New Deal. The food was labeled "government handouts". Baker still had the ambition to make something of himself which was greatly stressed by his mother. That ambition is what led to several turning points in his life.

Although he worked other jobs such as the B&O railroad and the supermarket, he described the Saturday Evening Post as a beginning job that would shape his character. His wish was to eventually pursue a writing career. Baker told about how his teacher sent his work, "wheat", to Belleville news for possible publication (p. 157). In 1941 the family moved into their own four bedroom house in Western Baltimore, the house mom called the "house of their own". The Depression had ended at that time and Russell's mom was married to Herb who was bringing in a steady income.

"For the first time in my life I could take a shower right in the house (p. 230)". They also had a telephone for the first time and it was that house that mom sent Russell off to war in. Baker gave the reader a great big picture of his college years at John Hopkins which was paid for by the GI bill, his first true love Miriam, and his experience in the service in WWII. Right before his entrance to college in 1942 was when one of the largest tragedies happened in U.S. history, the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor.

His passion was to fly in the service. "I had been in love with the romance of flying since first hearing as a small boy about Charles A. Lindbergh, who'd flown all the way to France by the seat of his pants (p. 262)". The year 1945, while old schoolmates were discovering the face of death, is when Russel started training for the service. He thoroughly explained the occurrence of D-Day as well as the invasion of Japan and the high amount of casualties while he was training. He also vividly described the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by decision of Truman and examples of how he never thought the war would end in letters to his mother. Finally, in 1946 Russell met his true love Miriam but she not fit mom's idea of "a good woman" (p. 293).

Miriam was an example of the new woman that wore too much makeup. Russell eventually married her and had children of his own. His mother's strong desire for him to make something of himself was eventually fulfilled when he received a desk and typewriter at the Sun. His salary eventually went up to seventy dollars a week which was a lot at that time. Baker's book was extremely informative, heartwarming, and most of all inspiring.

We get a vivid picture of the important events in American History that took place in his life. In between the important events were some very depressing events. The parts about the Depression and how they had to give his sister up for adoption were very upsetting. The letters Lucy Elizabeth wrote during the Depression were also upsetting. What was inspiring was that Baker fulfilled his lesson from his mom to make something of himself. I thought that was one of the most important quotes in the book.

He was very optimistic and determined in facing difficult times and was very successful.