Miss Lonelyhearts and the Depression - Essay Example

?Miss Lonelyhearts and the Depression Miss Lonelyhearts, by Nathanael West was written in 1933 during the great depression period in U S. Itshows thestory of a newspapercolumnist, whose is called “Miss Lonelyhearts” throughout the novel. “Miss Lonelyhearts” is considered the masterpiece of Nathanael West, the well-known U S author. He depicted the outcome of the great depression that hit America with the stock market crash in October 1929 and continued throughout the 1930s which lasted until 1939, in some of his books (Nieland, 2004).Depression can affect a person's work, relationships and social life. West illustrated such aspects of life evolved during the depression era in his novel Miss Lonelyhearts. The novel is of relevance today as the global economy showing a sign of depression, which may in turn lead to the great depression II.Even though the events and circumstances described in the novel are from a period of a century ago, the theme of the novel has relevance in this modern age. “Miss Lonelyhearts” the son of an England priest, is involved in giving advice for reader’s distressing letters.These hurting stories which he receives are depressing and eventually he also becomes depressed by reading the painful letters. He started heavy drinking and occasional bar fights.William Shrike, editor of the New York newspaper where Miss Lonelyhearts works, uses the column to boost up the circulation. The characters of this novel do not possess moral qualities, or they do not have any strong spirituality, which may be the result of depression era. They are not really concerned about social values (Martin, 1970). For example, Miss Lonelyhearts was not sincere as a columnist. At the beginning Miss Lonelyhearts started as a columnist in a style existing at that time with a superficial way of analysing and solving problems of individuals in society. In the society of that time where people suffered from financial and economic problems, actual religious and spiritual values did not affect them. When Miss Lonelyhearts received hundreds of letters from people of all walks of life describing their individual problems of many types he became astounded on going through the actual life problems. The letters contained plights of diverse people. For example, the novel describes a letter by a 16 year old girl who was born without a nose. Her life was pathetic because her parents felt guilty and shamed of their daughter, and this girl wanted Miss Lonelyhearts to tell her if she should commit suicide. When Miss Lonelyhearts understands the problem, he gets a sense of shock, which is a clear contrast to the attitude that the editor William Shilke shows. This contrast is very true of the media in the modern world. Over the years, media has become insensitive and focuses more on getting the sensational news out just to get more publicity and increase their profit. Just like Shilke, many media houses put immense pressure on the journalists to compromise on their ethics and values, just to get more attention from the public. This results in a breakdown at some point, just that Miss Lonelyhearts faced in the novel. Therefore, the approach of the editor to exploit the current situation is very similar to the way in which media sensationalizes the news in today’s era. In addition, in today’s society, depression is often taken out by certain methods that are not moralistic, such as getting involved in extra marital affairs or taking refuge in drugs. For Miss Lonelyhearts, he chose to overcome this depression by indulging in an extra marital affair with one of his readers and with the wife of the editor. Only a very drastic situation, such as an encounter with the crippled husband of Mrs Doyle can bring out repentance in Miss Lonelyhearts. In real life too, only a very tragic instance gets the people to come out and remorse as most people do not understand their mistake unless the situation is very grave. Even though this work is a piece of fiction, it is very reflective of the current situation because the factors such as the state of media, results of depression as well as adultery. In his novel, West elucidates the husband-wife relationship in Mr. Shrike’s family. Mrs Shrike blames her husband and asking Miss Lonelyhearts “...Do you know why he lets me go out with other men? To save money....” (West, 1993, p.59).This reveals the deterioration of relationship which was there during the period (Barnard, 1993). In the present time also such unhealthy family relationships exist between people. The life has become very fast paced and hence people hardly have time for each other. In this situation, the level of loyalty and morality has gone down considerably, resulting in many cases of adultery and cheating. Often, the relationships do not have the same value and sacredness attached to them as before. This is not just true of a marital relationship, but of many other relationships in life. In some cases, relationships are built on the basis of money and selfish motives, and they fizz out in a short period of time. So, just as relationships that Mr. Shrike has with his wife does not have a high morality, many real life relationships also exist where the level of morality is less. For example, the high rates of extra-marital affairs as well as divorce prove this fact to us in the modern world. The story of this novel is extremely relevant in today’s world. At present, the socio-economic conditions that are seen in some of the European countries and the US shows that some elements that are present in the novel actually exist in the real world. People in many modern nations often have a superficial outlook and get influenced by luxury. So, the aim is to make more money to lead such a type of life. The economic recession that has affected the US and European countries have reduced the credibility of many financial institutions and banks. Moral values, ethics and religious culture have also been moving towards a lower standard than before. Relationships between friends and families are less strong. The crime rates have increased and instances of killings and robbery have become much more common than before. People are also battling issues of depression and mental stress. There is also an increase in divorce cases, addiction to drugs, smoking and drinking. Therefore, just like the various characters in the novel, the people in the real world have increasingly lower moral values, pessimistic attitudes, higher illegal activities and less consideration for humanity. The age of economic depression was the beginning of a phase of high rates of unemployment, loss in business, increase in poverty, lower incomes, deflation, low farm incomes and also very few opportunities for growth and development. It is natural that such a phase would have an adverse effect on the mentality of the people around and make them restless, desperate and also prompt the people towards activities that do not go in line with their morals and values. If we take a look around, then it is obvious that the entire world is going through a phase of depression in many different fields. For example, the rate of unemployment is high, there is deficiency in availability and production of food, and new diseases such as AIDS are emerging and proving to be a threat to life. The various characters in the novels also represent this degeneration. So, both the social background as well as the characters in the novel represent the current age and the situations. References Nieland, J. (2004). West's Deadpan: Affect, Slapstick, and Publicity in Miss Lonelyhearts. Novel 38 (1), p. 57-85 West, N. (1933). Miss Lonelyhearts. New York: New Directions. Barnard, R. (1993). The Storyteller, the Novelist, and the Advice Columnist: Narrative and Mass Culture in Miss Lonelyhearts. 27(1), p. 40-61. Martin, J. (1970), Nathanael West: The Art of His Life. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1970. Read More