Impacts of the Great Depression - Book Report/Review Example

Impacts of the Great Depression Within the poem “"What Work Is" by Phillip Levine, the pronoun “you” is used to express the true emotions that the people faced during the Great Depression. Some of the struggles that Levine brings out in the poem include the sleepless nights relatives underwent in such of a living. For instance, in lines 22-24 Levine asserts “You love your brother, now suddenly you can hardly stand the love flooding you for your brother…” This expounds on how the voiceless worker felt when he could not see his brother in the line because of miserable night shifts.

From this assertion, one can affirm that people struggled very much during the Great Depression in order to survive. In relation to this, Levine starts his poem by explaining on how a man is standing in line in order to secure work at Ford Highland Park. He then states, “You know what work is …Forget you. This is about waiting… (lines 3 and 6). In writing this, Levine shows that people during the Great Depression had to work in order to get money to support their families. In asserting “forget you”, Levine means people used to work their entire life.

In other words, people had no option of deciding on when to stop working (Levine, 2015). In line 1-5, Levine claims that people used to wait in the line for work even when it was raining. In writing this, Levine mourns the stunted lives people lived during those times. In tandem with this, Levine expounds on the diminishing hope of some of the workers in the line. For instance, in line 15-17 Levine laments “… yours but with the same sad slouch, the grin that does not hide the stubbornness, the sad refusal to give in to rain, to the hours of wasted waiting …” (Levine, 2009).

In writing this, Levine portrays that workers had to know someone in order to get a job. This is a clear indication of assessing jobs was very difficult during those times. Line 20-21 express the climax of the poem by asserting that “No, we’re not hiring today,’ for any reason he wants.” This assertion is a realization point for the character in the poem. Even though the man in the poem knows that he will not a get a job, he still holds on and looks for one. In other words, the Great Depression had a significant mental effect on the people.

It made them believe getting a job as the only solution to any problem in life. Although the seeking of a job was the key issue to the people during the Great Depression, it is apparent that there was something more important to one’s life than just working. This is evidenced by the rest of the poem speaking about the man in the poem missing his brother. From this claim, it is evident that the Great Depression made people realize that there are other things in life that are more important than just working.

The last line of the poem says that “just because you don’t know what work is” (Levine, 1999). In writing this, Levine meant that even though men did not know what work was, and after realization of what it was, still returned because they were lost in the world of depression that required one to work in order to get out of it. Additionally, one can argue that the Great Depression had a significant physical effect to the people; people could seek for work irrespective of their physical health in order to sustain themselves.

This claim is also evidenced by the first line of the poem that asserts “We stand in the rain in a long line.” The poem by Levine is a critique of capitalism. For instance, it begins by expressing what workers undergo in order to access a job. The environment for jobs associated with capitalism is very poor. According to Levine, workers have no rights over the works they want as well as the duration of working. Majority of the working areas as expounded in this poem do not recognize workers as beings that need protection from harsh working conditions such as working for the rest of one’s life as well as queuing in line while waiting for a job.

Additionally, the poem expresses on how people find it hard to get jobs. It is as a result of this that workers feel happy when they see their relatives ahead of them. In other words, the poem clams that one needs to know someone in order to get a job. All these criticism is a portrayal for a call for social reform. The society need to recognize all persons in the working environment and provide them with job opportunities irrespective of relationship. Additionally, the rights of workers according to the poem need to be observed.

Workers need not to be rained on in order to get a job. Additionally, the poem claims that it is important for the people to realize that there are other important things in life other than working. In other words, people need to realize the essence of other people n life. References Levine, P. (2015). What Work Is. Poetry Foundation. Retried from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/182873 Levine, P. (1999). What Work Is. The Kenyon Review. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4337867?

seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Levine, P. (2009). Poem Analysis: “What Work Is” by Philip Levine. Retrieved from http://ariegr1.edublogs.org/2009/03/19/poem-analysis-what-work-is-by-philip-levine/