Yonnondio and Waiting for Lefty - Essay Example

YONNONDIO AND WAITING FOR LEFTY Introduction Capitalism is more often than not exploitative especially to people having low income. Many people have attempted to overcome the immediacy of localized experiences in relation to people under capitalism. Some of them have succeeded, but there is still large number that is still getting affected. This is the reason many authors are still writing about issues that bring negative impacts to the community and are related to capitalism. They have chosen individuals in their writing to portray the experiences in the superior communal entirety of capitalism. In the given novels, there are many similarities shown in the characters way of life. There are two families used by the authors to show the different lifestyles among capitalized people. In both novels, it is essential to note that similar issues are discussed. The authors mostly focus on the struggles people have to undergo to ensure that there lives are better. In the play waiting for lefty, Miller is a learned man working in the lab as lab assistance. He works for a certain company and is requested by his boss to make poisonous gases that are to be used to fight in a chemical war. To ensure that he does not neglect his request, his boss tells him of his raise in his office. He does not understand that he is being used to make poisonous gases that are to be used by certain people in chemical warfare. At first, he seems to accept to the terms as offered but as Fayette, his boss, continues with his explanations he remembers the deaths that have occurred due to war (Odets, 23). He remembers the death of his brother and is willing to lose his job. The author states that he tells it to Fayette’s face that he had rather get a livelihood from digging ditches. The author tries to show that there is a lot of exploitation among the people who live in lower standards of life. Since they are willing to have better lives, they are willing to bear with anything to have their goals achieved. Just like Miller, many people should be ready to overcome worse experiences as seen among people living under capitalism (Odets, 30). In the novel Yonnondio, it is evident that the characters used bring out the idea of capitalism really well. Anna Holbrook believes that her children can evade the kind of life she was living by acquiring education. The author uses day- dreaming and imagination to bring out the ideas in Anna’s mind. Although she lives a poor life, she is willing to have changes in the life of her children whereby they live a better one than they have in their childhood. She has to undergo through beating from her husband every time he comes home drunk. She does not have a job as her husband, but the chores at home always leave her very exhausted. She has to act as the ideal homemaker, always finding food and laundering clothes. Despite doing all this duties, she has to deal with domestic violence (Olsen, 34). The violence she has to undergo has changed her personality to an extent that she beats her children to make up for the pain she feels. Although she does this, she still cares about her children. This is the reason she always emphases that education is the only best thing that her children deserve. Her children have lived a miserable life, and she is not willing to have them pass through the same life. To have her goals achieved, she has made them believe that the only way they are going to overcome the experiences of the people living under capitalization, is by working in offices. If they are ale to get good jobs and be admitted in any office, they will abandon the miserable living conditions. As a way of motivating them, she assures them that their hands will become whiter. The author to show that people living under capitalization are always willing to overcome the experiences uses Anna. She is willing to use any method to overcome ideas in capitalism (Olsen, 43). The author shows that there is some evidence of love among these people. Jim always attempts to create a good life for his family. He finds out ways of making ends meet so that his family can live a better life. He always takes has time to find a better job whenever there is time. He has moved from various jobs trying to identify the most appropriate among those available. He has worked as a coal miner, farmer, and a meat parker. He changes jobs trying to overcome the difficulties experienced when supporting his family. The author uses this family man to show that although the people are willing to work, the jobs available cannot cater for all family need. This is the reason he has to move from one job to another in search of a fulfilling job that can cater for both his needs and the families. The author proves that it is extremely impossible to have this happen because he sates that Jim and his friends have to pass via the bars. The main reason for drinking is to forget or rather flee from realism. He has worked to get some satisfaction but instead he ends up getting depressed. This is the reason he has resulted to physically assaulting his wife. Probably he blames her for the type of life he has to face. His violence is a prove that he is not satisfied with the kind of life he is trying to better. He takes it upon himself to make the life of his family- wife and kids- very miserable. Probably, if he had enough cash he would not result to drinking, hence would not have his family experience his brutality. The kind of life he lives makes him have the animosity as portrayed in the novel. The author says that he had nonentity, but serious blows on the kids and he bet Anna too often to commit to memory, even the approximate number. It is important to note that he behaved in this manner because of the circumstances, but he is portrayed as a caring person. First as stated above, he is willing to work so that his family can have a better way of living. Second, he takes good care of his wife when she suffers from a miscarriage. He is portrayed as a very loving father since he is able to spare some time to play with hi children. These incidences show that the experiences that some people have to undergo are due to the type of life the capitalized people live in. They can have better ways of facing life if they had a way to improve their living standards (Olsen, 78). At very young age, kids are supposed to assist in daily chores. Mazie is six years old but is involved in house responsibilities. She has to witness the hurtfulness of being a mother. She is always present when her mother has to oil to make ends met. She witnesses the fear her mother has when there are no signs of having any food for the family. The hard jobs she has to work even until extra time to find alternative food sources. She is able to help in food preparation and taking care of the other kids. She is portrayed as the character of change because as she grows up she has her life turning according to experiences. Since she has a lot of time at home, she finds herself daydreaming. She has expectations of facing life at a different angle rather than the one their parents brought them up. She has had to listen to the mother’s educational advice so many times but has never attended school. She has waited for all her life to have her mother’s dream of having them acquire education, but it seems to always evade their way. Although her mother lets her get involved in the daily duties at home, she is not willing to have her children have the same kind of life. The author gives the idea that most children have the will to get higher in their education but are unable to achieve their dreams. Through this, we can also conclude that most parents in the capitalization way of life have the will to have their children acquire education. They also admire the kind of life lived by the people who have acquired education and are living a good life. This is portrayed by the way Mazie’s mother has the will to have her children attend school, despite the life they are living (Olsen 87). Most people under capitalism have larger families than they can support. This is portrayed by the fact that some people join Jim after work in his drinking place. This may be used to show that they have similar problems, and as Jim, they are trying to hide from what life has planned for them. In some way, they are to blame for their straining. Jim has a family of more than six people yet he is aware of the struggles he has to undergo. If he had practiced family planning, he would have just a little of problems which he would use little effort to work out. The people that join him in his drinking probably have similar problems. The author uses this family to show that most people living under capitalization lack the sense of family planning. The author shows that the type of living conditions lived by these people is really wanting. The young son has to have trouble when they more to their new home. He has to bear with the awful smell that brings more effect to the already infected lungs. This shows that the housing available is not the best for human leaving. Since Will grows up under the care of his sister, he is attached to her, but as he grows up, he wants to face life in an independent way. This is the reason he finds his own friends and has his own adventures. This can be used to portray the degree of determination in the people to live independently (Olsen, 122). In the play waiting for lefty, Edna tells the husband that they lack furniture. She explains that the furniture was unpaid for, and the owners had repossessed them. This shows that this family is not well up since they are unable to cater for their bills. Her husband has a lot of complains related to strikes. He states that they do not add up to any thing but instead bring many losses. The author has used this man to portray the problems experienced by employees. In addition, the author to show that in the low-income based families, there are some people who are great thinkers, has used Joe. He is aware that strikes in most cases are a lead to the downfall (Odets, 99). Works cited Odets, Clifford. Waiting for Lefty and Other Plays . New York: Grove Press, 1994. Print. Olsen, Tillie. Yonnondio: From the Thirties. Montreal: Bison Books , 2004. Print. Read More