Industrialization in the Modernist era destroys most human elements in its path. The Industrialist society correlates to the early civilizations of the world in which people have to compete amongst each other to survive. It simultaneously causes both the employer and the employee to lose their sanity while corrupting their moral ideals. In “Modern Times,” Charlie Chaplin implies that the president’s pursuit of wealth causes him to surrender his humanity and allows him to treat his employees like machines instead of humans. Over time, human existence became more civilized, and people had the opportunity to care about the plight of others because they did not have to struggle for basic necessities like food and water. However, in chapter five …show more content…
The industrialist society forces people to become self-absorbed in their own interests because no one else will help them overcome poverty. People abandon their moral ideals to become “slaves” to the banks “as their masters” because that is the only way they can provide for their families (32). Just like the little tramp, the bankers sacrifice their humanity to better their own living conditions. The bank employees cannot think about others when they struggle to feed themselves. Industrialization creates a society in which the wealthy feed upon the desperation of the poor while simultaneously turning moral people into obedient robots. For example, the son of Joe Davis robotically destroys the land of the poor farmers because the monster that controls him “goggled his perception” and “muzzled his protest” (35). The driver of the tractor has to prioritize his family’s needs over the needs of others. As a result, he does not protest when the bank tells him to uproot another person’s life because his “three dollars a day” prevents him from “creeping for [his] dinner” (37). The driver cannot think about the plight of others because industrialization forces him to trade his compassion for survival. An industrialist society strips people of the opportunity to care for others because they have to make a profit to provide for their own needs first, even if it results in the destruction of another person’s
The States of Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma was hit by a terrible drought that was known as Dust Bowl in 1930s to 1940s. The Dust Bowl made the farmer families in this affected States not able to pay their debts and so the government and bank closed the family farm. The movie “The Grape of Wrath” directed by John Ford depicts the life of a family from Oklahoma that was affected by the Dust Bowl in 1930-1940. The family left Oklahoma and moved to California which they call the promise land but when they got to California starvation, poverty, and injustice welcomed them. The Dust Bowl in 1930s and 1940s made the people’s lives miserable and made the whole country suffer.
"No man can be a good citizen unless he has a wage more than sufficient to cover the bare cost of living, and hours of labor short enough so that after his day's work is done he will have time and energy to bear his share in the management of the community, to help in carrying the general load. We keep countless men from being good citizens by the conditions of life with which we surround them. We need comprehensive workmen's compensation acts, both State and national laws to regulate child labor and work for women," said 26th president of United States Theodore Roosevelt as he was explaining how industrialization had ruined people's lives ( Colby 515). Industrialization is defined as the large-scale introduction of manufacturing, advanced technical enterprises, and other productive economic activity into a society. Industrialization is a huge aspect of society and especially in America. After the American Civil War in 1861, a lot southern plantation owners were living in poverty because they lost their land. Emancipated slaves were also living in poverty because most them didn’t have a job, but as industrialization grew in America, more people were attracted to the cities up North. A lot of southerners and emancipated slaves traveled up North because of job opportunities. But this proved to be a horrible mistake. These people were working in gruesome conditions and were exploited. So the question is, what does industrialization do to a society? Industrialization causes
John Steinbeck went into writing about the Dust Bowl migration feeling that he had the responsibility to convey the problem correctly. The Grapes of Wrath not only works as a call to action in favor of the masses of migrant workers that were forced to live in poverty, but also expresses several other messages about mankind itself. Steinbeck uses powerful imagery, unique and suspenseful structure, dramatic tone, and compelling symbolism to effectively squeeze a mountain of an issue into pages of text.
“At the heart of every immigrant’s experience is a dream- a vision of hope that is embodied in his or her destination” (Gladstein 685). In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath the migrants imagined the absolute aspects of living care free to the west. However, everything changed once they traveled to the west, realizing the simple concept turned into hazardous problems. John Steinback emphasized the American dream of economic stability and truculent situations towards the Joads family's point of view. Throughout the immigration, the Joads family goes through constant and unpredictable changes in employment, and their eventual failure to find success in California. The novel has been called by critics "a celebration of the human spirit", in several ways it is true due to the aspects of human nature. Despite the hazardous actions people can do, it is important to realize everything around us.
Imagine a world without cars, phones, and radio. This world would feature children working in slums and trips that take twice the amount of time they would if one would have simply taken the train. Believe it or not, but this was how society was before Industrialization. It is argued whether or not Industrialization had a positive or negative impact on society, as it brought the dangerous world of child labor and several ill business practices. Despite these hardships, Industrialization had a greatly positive effect on society, as with it came the creation of child labor laws, the advancement in the mass production of goods, and technological advancements that changed our world forever.
The decaying state of the American economy and the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s brought about the necessity for the United States to reconsider its attitudes and examine the long term effects of its policies concerning wide-scale socioeconomic problems that were constantly growing bigger. The Great Depression led to the creation of many new and innovative government policies and programs, along with revisions to older economic systems. However, these cost the government billions of dollars in a country that had consistently been stretching the gap between the rich and poor. This continued as the Great Depression began to change everything people had grown old
The Grapes of Wrath is set in the horrible stage of our American history, the Depression. Economic, social, and historical surroundings separate the common man of America into basically the rich and poor. A basic theme is that man turns against one another in a selfish pride to only protect themselves. For example, the landowners create a system in which migrants are treated like animals and pushed along from one roadside camp to the next. They are denied decent wages and forced to turn against their fellow scramblers to simply survive.
Steinbeck's political views are quite evident within The Grapes of Wrath. The subject of much controversy, The Grapes of Wrath serves as a social protest and commentary. Steinbeck's views as expressed through the novel tie directly into the Marxist ideals on communism.
Lee To Kill a Mockingbird, a very interesting book that supplies the multiple personalities of very diverse characters whose actions symbolizes how sometimes people are judged unfairly, and in The Grapes of Wrath people do not receive any justice with the public. People are treated like animals in both these books and have a heavy emphasis on dehumanization through the violation of the simplest form of rights and recognition of what is suppose to be the law. People are denied the right to be a part of society in The Grape of Wrath due to discrimination because of poverty, and people are denied to be a part of society in To Kill a Mockingbird due to racism.
Shem Cheng Professor Doniella Maher English 110 3/6/2017 It is reasonable to believe that while John Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath, does represent the American Dream, it represents the failure of this idea due to humans’ tendency to hinder others out of greed and selfishness. The greed of the rich caused them to abuse and harass the poor, keeping the poor from trying to improve themselves. The selfishness of the locals cause them to fear the migrants and grow biased and hostile against the migrant. The Grapes of Wrath is a story that takes place during the 1930 Dust Bowl and focuses primarily on the Joad family, a family of farmers forced to leave their home in Oklahoma, as well as the people around them.
According to Muller, before capitalism, traditional institutions governed people and their individual choices. During this period, minimal change occurred, which prevented people from progressing. The beginning of capitalism gave individuals more responsibility and control over their own lives, thus allowing for progress. Muller then describes how commodification enabled people to use time more efficiently. From there, people began conserve time and efforts, and so, capitalism and commodification eventually bred self-cultivation and self-intervention.
John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood both explore the concept of the human condition and the qualities undermining the circumstances of our sentient through the gripping lives of the two leading protagonists. John Steinbeck explores Tom Joad as the main protagonist in The Grapes of Wrath and connects his character with the audience through his significantly adjuring transformation from ‘ex-con’ to selfless family man throughout the text. Inversely, Paul Thomas Anderson explores Daniel Plainview as the main protagonist in There Will Be Blood and connects his character with the audience through unquestionable toughness and a considerable, enthralling transformation from imposing businessman to selfish psychopath. Similarly, these two texts are based in times of hardship, The Grapes of Wrath is fixed during the great depression and There Will Be Blood is set during the early 1900’s when mining was difficult. The two authors use the hardships of their main protagonist to demonstrate the different ways in which humans can become affected by the pathway chosen regarding feeling and emotion. Through the complexity of the two main protagonists, the authors make direct opinions toward the human condition and the ability to change persona through risky decisions and family influence.
The industrial revolution was without a doubt one of humanities greatest achievements, with the rise of machine labor humans could now produce far greater quantities of goods in less time than ever before, however, industrialization also had countless adverse effects on the lives of many working-class citizens which are often never discussed. Therefore, the goal of this essay will be to shed some light on the negative effect of industrialization, and examine labor reform movements that came to be as a result of the inhumane treatment that most workers experienced at this time.
The process of industrialization lead to an equal amount of more and less freedom. With money being the main source of control, an American must require a job in order to obtain idolized, personal freedom. However, the individual has to trade in their time of day to the man of superior power who is more fortunate than the worker himself. The process of capitalism is not necessarily a terrible outlook, but it does in fact drift the idea of freedom away for people living in America by spending countless hours in a career that can pay so little such as factory jobs. According to Russel Conwell’s, Acres of Diamonds, he states “..the man of common sense also knows that there is not any one of those things that is not greatly enhanced by the use
They hail the introduction of industrialization as a boon to the society and in turn to the United States of America as it renders good service to the wellbeing of upper class people. Modern machines and tools equipment such as refrigerator, microwave, television, scooter, washing machines, cellular phone, fan, etc., are introduced which fascinate many. But man power is reduced by introducing washing machines and robots for house hold chores. The industries have created an illusion that men cannot survive without the support of modern machines. On the one side it creates unemployment crisis and on the other side it creates inferiority complex among the people who fail to adapt to the life style with all the latest inventions. On one occasion Paul is considered as the traitor for Ghost Shirt Society, but he does not like this idea being propagated. This situation continues for long time. He gets angry.