Skip to main content

How does Bud, Not Buddy help you better understand the impact of the Great Depression?

For me, Bud, Not Buddyhelps me better understand the Great Depression because Bud is a kid.  Most of times that I have read about the Great Depression, it has been in a textbook.  The textbook gives a bunch of cold facts and fills the pages with pictures of adults.  I suppose a part of me never considered the time period impacting children and families.  Currently, I am a father of three children under the...

For me, Bud, Not Buddy helps me better understand the Great Depression because Bud is a kid.  Most of times that I have read about the Great Depression, it has been in a textbook.  The textbook gives a bunch of cold facts and fills the pages with pictures of adults.  I suppose a part of me never considered the time period impacting children and families.  Currently, I am a father of three children under the age of eight.  Reading about the poverty surrounding Bud really made me consider the impact that the time period had on families and their children.  It really felt unfair that kids were so impacted, because they didn't cause the problem, and they couldn't do anything to solve it either. It was difficult to read the parts of the book where Bud talked about it being better on the road and in the shanty villages than it was back in the Home because of the sheer number of children that the orphanage wasn't able to provide for.  



Going back to the Home was out, it used to be that we'd get a new kid every once in a while, but lately it seems like there's a couple of new kids every day, mostly babies, and they're most always sick. It's not like it was when I first got there, shucks, half the folks that run it don't even tell you their name and don't remember yours unless you're in trouble all the time or getting ready to move out.



The other reason that the book is a good teacher of the time period is because it is about a character with thoughts and feelings.  A reader gets to experience the time period with Bud.  Textbooks give you facts.  They don't give emotions.  Bud, Not Buddy helps readers feel what it was like during that difficult time period.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Can you analyze the poem "Absolution" by Siegfried Sassoon?

Sure! Siegfried Sassoon fought in World War I and was wounded in battle; he spent much of his life speaking out against war, and these pacifist feelings are easy to see in his poems. This one, "Absolution," was published in 1917, the same year that Sassoon was hospitalized for what we know today as post-traumatic stress disorder. "Absolution" is a short poem that contains three stanzas of four lines each. The word "absolution" means "forgiveness," and... Sure! Siegfried Sassoon fought in World War I and was wounded in battle; he spent much of his life speaking out against war, and these pacifist feelings are easy to see in his poems. This one, "Absolution," was published in 1917, the same year that Sassoon was hospitalized for what we know today as post-traumatic stress disorder. "Absolution" is a short poem that contains three stanzas of four lines each. The word "absolution" means "forgiveness," and the v...
Post a Comment
Read more

How and why does James Gatz become Jay Gatsby? Describe the young Gatsby/Gatz.

James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune,... James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune, whereas they arose from well-to-do families. Gatz became Gatsby through determination and discipline. At the end of the novel, the narr...
Post a Comment
Read more

In chapter one of The Great Gatsby, what advice does Nick's father give him? How does this make him a good person to tell this story?

Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches... Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches into a discussion of how pe...
Post a Comment
Read more