Essay On Hooverville

Hooverville is a shantytown built by unemployed and destitute people during the Depression of the early 1930’s. As the Depression worsened and millions of urban and rural families lost their jobs and depleted their savings, they also lost their homes. People are just trying to survive due to the Depression. Desperate for shelter, homeless citizens built shantytowns in and around cities across the nation. The Depression was a time of hopelessness all over the United States, and because of it, Bud ended up motherless, fatherless and homeless. The Great Depression provides the setting for "Bud, Not Buddy" and is entwined into every aspect of the story. This major historical event of the 1930s impacts all parts of Bud's life. Hunger and want for …show more content…
This is why Bud decides to run away from the orphanage, but due to the Depression, life as a runaway is particularly difficult. He must hide from those who will take him back to the orphanage. During his travels, Bud meets many people suffering from hunger, homelessness and joblessness of the Great Depression. When Bud and his friend Bugs end up in Hooverville a man playing the mouth organ tells Bud and Bugs they are in the right place if they are from Flint. Bud and Bugs look around and see that Hooverville is very diverse. The mouth organ man tells the boys that traveling is bad and that Hooverville is home. Using Hooverville in his story, Curtis is showing Bud that there are many homeless people who are struggling to survive, as well as a sense of family, even though they are all strangers at one time they can become family. Since most of Buds foster homes were not a positive outcome for him, using Hooverville shows Bud that all types of people can come together and make a home out of even cardboard boxes. During the depression there are many people who are struggling, many families are separated because of work. The husbands have to leave their families behind temporarily to find