Our Mothers War - Book Report/Review Example

?American Women at Home and at the Front During World War II Introduction Our Mothers’ War written by Emily Yellin captures the role of American women both at war fronts and in domestic life during the period of the Second World War. Emily Yellin further observes that the event of the Second World War in fact changed the dimensions of women’s participation in the American society. The book was authored by Emily Yellin based on a collection of journal and letters written by her mother. Emily’s mother served the Red Cross based in Pacific during the Second World War period. This book is a collection of events which reflects the turbulent moments in America where women not only let their husbands and sons go to meet death but themselves got involved in roles unthinkable. (Yellin). Women on the Warfront The Second World War brought a transitory period in American society when a number of women who were mainly expected to run the households largely joined the American forces. Even the American government led by President Roosevelt rendered huge encouragement to the women population for taking up this level of a daunting task at the cost of their lives. It was astonishing for the American society to view that women who were primarily considered homemakers are marching forward taking weapons in their hand to safeguard their own motherland. The women of America viewed the Second World War as one of the greatest opportunities that they had received during their lifetime in serving their own country. The inception of the Second World War led the United States government making huge appeals to the American women to come and join the war fronts. Further the bombarding of the Pearl Harbor in America, which caused the inception of the Second World War, created further uproar in the minds of women to send their sons, husbands and fiances to the war fronts. America with her war against the trio Germany, Italy and Japan started inviting her citizens through mediums like radio and print media like magazines to work for safeguarding the country. Thus leaving some a majority of women cooperatively joined the war fronts even postponing events like marriages. People who initially did not encourage the idea of women going at war fronts started cooperating when they came across couples or families readily proceeding to fight for their country. Conscious people even considered the act of love as an element of luxury at the cost of their motherland being in danger (Yellin, 3-4-6). Marriage and War The event of Second World War largely jeopardized the lives of many people who were planning to get married quite recently. The event of the war cast a mixed show of emotions among many people. Some felt the urge to move over to the war front while others viewed that marrying at staying away from war was rather a much wiser option. Thus an estimate made along the war period show that around 1.8 million couples got engaged during that period. Another estimate shows that around 2,900 wedding ceremonies took place during the 1943 period. It was even found that newly married couples who had exchanged their vows some hours or days ago drove away to the war fronts. The Church compounds were filled by a long queue of couples and it happened during every Saturday for these couples increasingly suffered from the fear of being separated because of the war. A book written by one clergyman, Reverend Dr. Randolph Ray also reflected the seriousness of the issue of marriage, which showed the surmounting pressures on the young couples to quicken their wedlocks. The clergyman reflected that couples that took to quicken their wedlock failed to sustain the same, which eventually aimed to separation. Thus, personally he did not like the event of wartime marriages for to him marriage symbolized shouldering of large amount of responsibilities and thereby a steady mental setup. More specifically, he felt that the role of women grew much more during the event of marriage and thus needed a balanced mind. Thus, women taking to warfronts showing a tensed and anxious mind were not considered the right person to get married. Women are considered the pivots of any family or of any relationship. Thus, the clergyman felt that any action taken or committed by the women needed special preparation to handle the future outcomes resulting from such ends. However, the outbreak of the Second World War caused such immense restlessness in the society that men and women felt no time to spare for making plans and preparations. Yellin’s book ‘Our Mother’s War’ also throws light on horrifying events, which shows a couple married when only in their teens during the wartime had faced. The couple Genevieve and Glen married at ages 17 and 21 respectively got separated for Glen moved on to the war fields. The couple who intensely loved each other gave birth to a baby only to be reared by the teen mother. Genevieve who had the idea of the duration of the war eventually had to travel for miles after three and a half years to meet her husband still at Warfield. This shows that marriages, which happened during the wartime, jeopardized the lives of many and made them seemingly adventurous or sometimes fatal (Yellin, 5-7). Conclusion Emily Yellin’s book ‘Our Mother’s War’ shows how the roles of women dwelling in America got transformed due to the inception of the Second World War in 1942. Women who were primarily considered homemakers not only encouraged their male counterparts to move on to the war fields but themselves in many circumstances eagerly took to arms. The government amazed by such huge uproar also started encouraging many American citizens through radio and print media to join the war in order to safeguard their motherland. However, the event of the Second World War jeopardized the lives of many people who were planning to get married. Due to the fear of being separated, the couples forcefully took to exchanging their vows in a faster manner. Such couples who exchanging their vows fled to war fields filled churches. These events affected the lives of many girls whose fate became tied to the Second World War. References Yellin, Emily, Our Mother’s War, New York: Free Press, 2004. Read More