Poem Concerns Life During The Great Depression example essay topic

Explication of James Wright's"Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio " The poem's title seems to depict a harvest scene with foliage falling from the trees, the end of summer, preparation for winter, Autumn Begins. But this seasonal change in nature's life cycle occurs metaphorically in Martins Ferry, Ohio, Wright's hometown, which already gives an introduction in itself to the changes, which occur there. The feelings and emotions which affected him. He was born In Martins Ferry, Ohio on December 13, 1927. His father worked at a glass factory; his mother at a laundry. Both parents did not attend high school; jobs must have been extremely scarce for the couple to acquire. (qt d. in website).

"Pollack's nursing long beers in Tiltonsville" is used to describe the unemployed. Pollack labels a native or descendant of Poland which seems to denote these people. Their lack of employment is made clear in the following lines of the poem when two other stereotypes are introduced with their occupations mentioned. This is the first clue to the underlying idea that this poem concerns life during the Great Depression. Throughout the Great Depression it was difficult for anyone to find a job, let alone a job with security. The Negroes, with their gray faces symbolize the tough and sordid laborers in the blast furnace.

The "ruptured night watchmen" indicates hostility in their lives. Their occupation isn't gratifying. The idea occurs and reoccurs to them that, presently, they have jobs, a duty in life. The jobs are kept even though all the recollections specify a life without satisfaction or pride. The definition of ruptured from Webster's Collegiate Dictionary Tenth Edition indicates their breach of peace and their openness to hostility. The Pollack's drink to escape their worries.

The long beers indicating the idea that their worries are always present and never ending because they nurse the beer. Desire to escape life's strife. They strive towards satisfaction "dreaming of heroes". They dream of happiness and success for their sons. The use of alliteration is used in lines 2, 3, and 4 to connect the workers remembered in the poem. In lines 2, 3, 4, respectively, "L", "B", and "W" sounds are repeated.

The words "suicidally beautiful" describe the children who experienced much of the effects of the Depression, a melancholy state that was common. Wright was one of these children; growing up, spending his childhood during the Great Depression experiencing these emotions. He explains that these emotions "grow" in the sons because their fathers are "ashamed to go home". The wives of these fathers, the mothers of the players in the football game crave for love. This simile compares the women's starvation for love to the hunger of a young chicken.

The women are so hungry because of the lack of love it's killing them. The use of the word "dying" gives evidence for this. They "cluck" for affection but it is unreturned by neither their husbands or sons. Verbal imagery sets the basis for the comparison between the women "dying for love" and the 'clucking of the pullets'.

The "uh" sound is present in both cluck and pullets. An example is set for their sons to acquire, a life without self-worth allowing no return admiration from their children. The sons, athletes, are "beautiful" but unhappy with themselves, unhappy with their parents, unhappy with their lives to the thought of suicide. The players then "gallop terribly against each others bodies". The sons speed at each other holding "suicidal" beliefs with no care for their own bodies. Line 5, "dreaming of heroes" and line 8, "dying for love" expresses alliteration.

The dreams of the fathers and the dying mothers cause the suicidal tendencies in their sons. This connection is made clear with lines 7, 9, and 10, respectively: the repeated "there". The "D" sound in dreams and dying completes the comparison. The poem's tone seems to portray a life torn apart to certain set grays.

The football game is not viewed as a trivial competition; images of a life not worth struggling for become vivid, but are then contrasted as the beginning of the end. Like the leaves during autumn, there is a parallel between the helpless fathers and the strong, "beautiful" sons. The changes which occur in autumn compare to Wright's departure from home. He obviously experienced difficulty coping with the changes in his life, suffering a nervous breakdown in 1943. (qt d. In website). It is clearly shown, Wright's love and remembrance for home conflicted with his great desire to flee Martins Ferry, Ohio.