Art as Expression: The Power of Literature in History - Essay Sample

Introduction

Many forms of literature have been used to express the emotions of the people. One of the most common ones is art. People draw based on the situation they are in, the beliefs they have and the crisis that they are exposed to. In other cases, people use poetry to express feelings, experiences and even for entertainment purposes. Most of the events that have happened in history have such works of art to express them. The people write about them using specific figures of speech such as allusion, imagery and repetition. All the aspects have a purpose in any poem. One of such poems was written by Donald Justice. It was called the Pantoum of The Great Depression. It uses some poetic styles such as imagery as analyzed below.

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Inspirations of the Poem

The poem was inspired by and named after one of the biggest economic catastrophes in the history of the modern world- the Great Depression. It was a time when the economy of most industrialized nations suffered a significant drop. It began in 1929 and continued until ten years later. It came after a time when the economy of the United States was booming, and the spending of the nation had doubled. The people in the nation had invested a lot of income in the stock market, and it grew significantly until 1929. It was then that employment reduced, drought hit the land, and consumer debt started proliferating.

The nation began experiencing recession after this period. There were no more sales and unsold goods begun piling up in production units. Upon noticing that the stock market could no longer curb their needs, more people began selling all their shares in panicky efforts to get back their income. Sixteen million shares were traded on a day called Black Thursday (Bush 334). What followed was the suffering of many businesses. Banks were declared bankrupt, businesses closed and people suffered unemployment in large numbers. Poverty struck the nation, and many people suffered significantly.

In the period, 5500 banks were closed, and 32000 businesses were declared bankrupt. A quarter of the population also lost their jobs (Temin 146). Taking all these aspects to consider, many people dropped luxurious lifestyles and started living from hand to mouth. In this period, people no longer threw away food. Instead, they ate the leftovers. An example is when the people ate Sunday’s roast as Monday’s stew Tuesday’s vegetable beef soup.

Themes of the Poem

The poem seems to follow no specific order. It is like the persona is in delirium after someone asked them to describe a very sad memory. The poem expresses a sombre mood all through. He seems to be repeating the same issue over and over to show the emphasis of the situation that they went through. Several aspects show this theme. One of them Is the repetitive use of the statement “Oh, there were storms and small catastrophes” (Justice). It shows that the persona underwent harsh times, just like those in a storm. Apart from that, a catastrophe is a devastating event that could signify the hard-economic times that left the people poorer than they had ever been.

The second theme seen in the poem is hopelessness. The persona begins the poem by saying that their lives kept going with no apparent meaning. It shows that the people had nothing to hope for. They only lived for the moment since they had no expectation of the future. They only had enough to sustain them so that their lives did not end. In another line, the persona expresses tat if they suffered; they did not say anything about it. It shows that they had no one to look up to for help, and they had to deal with their issues alone. There as also no hope of being helped or remembered. The aspect is expressed in a verse where the persona says that since they were poor, no audience could ever hear their story. The inability to control their situation also expresses the theme of hopelessness. The line where the persona states that poverty entered their lives like fog. One cannot control fog, and it brings about cold.

The theme of poverty is also very recurrent in the poem. At a time when there is an economic recession, the people could not manage to get their basic needs. At one point, their poverty also makes them not be helped by the people. No audience can hear their story or even come to help. There is, however, a theme of victory that is also seen several times. The persona expresses that they managed with no need for heroic. It shows that no matter how hard the time was, they survived and emerged after the depression. The persona has no idea how they survived as expressed in the line “I don't remember all the particulars”.

The persona also suffers from reduced esteem and an acceptance that they have little virtues. In the last stanza, the persona expresses that people have many flaws, and they shape their lives. Poverty often makes people break their moral codes. It may have been the reason why the persona expressed the flaws that the people had. It also makes the people lack means to become better hence the use of private virtues.

Finally, sadness is seen in several lines of the poem. The first one is when the person said that their lives kept going with no apparent end. It shows that the persona may have wanted it to end. Apart from that, they express that they had usual sorrows and the suffering that the great depression brought about. The theme further alludes to the funeral ceremonies of that time. The line "And time went by, drawn by slow horses" is similar to a funeral procession whereby one sad even was followed by another (Justice). Sadness as made worse by the lack of hope, as seen in the previously discussed paragraphs.

The people also developed some positive aspects that helped them get past the tragedy. One f them was avoiding trouble. They also showed some aspects of determination that helped the persona, his family and the neighbours from total downfall.

Styles in the Poem

Several styles are seen in the poem. Repetition is seen in all stanzas. The second line of one stanza becomes the starting line of the next paragraph. The style creates emphasis of the poem. The author wants the readers of the poem to understand how deep some themes, such as poverty were affecting them. It also creates an aspect of memorability to the readers. One can easily recall a line that has been repeated several times in the poem.

The second style used in the poem is an allusion. It is seen in the explanation of slow horses dragging the life of the people. The event alludes to the funeral procession. It shows that it is a sad event that signifies sorrow. The allusion creates a vivid image of the life of the people in the time of the great depression.

Moreover, imagery is used. In the line “The Great Depression had entered our souls like fog”, the author likens the great depression to fog (Justice). Fog is associated with cold, just like the people in the era suffered from poverty. It also shows the inability of the people to control the situation that they were in.

Conclusion

The great depression was one of the worst economic times in history. The nations in the world suffered a great recession and increased levels of poverty. They could not afford basic needs, and they had nowhere to look for help. They suffered alone and with no hope of getting help from anyone. The nation’s economy also dropped significantly with people being unable to afford commodities. They left their lavish lifestyles and begun living in poverty. Many people also lost their jobs during this era.

Works Cited

Bush, Elizabeth. "Crash: The Fall and Rise of America in the 1930s by Marc Favreau." Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 71.8 (2018): 334-334.

Justice, Donald. "Pantoum of the Great Depression." (2000): 99-100.

Temin, Peter. "Great Depression." Banking Crises. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2016. 144-153.