The Struggle In Russell Baker's Growing Up

In John Steinbeck’s seminal novel Of Mice and Men, the nomadic farmworker George laments about finding work in the Great Depression, saying, “Guys like us…are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don 't belong no place…They ain 't got nothing to look ahead to.” This somber reflection of the era conveys the hopelessness that afflicted millions in this country. Even President Roosevelt, lauded as America’s savior, did little more than put a dent in unemployment numbers that soared above 25%. Only the onset of the Second World War finally pulled our country out of the slump and into a flurry industrial activity, but not until nearly twelve years of hardship and adversity had passed. Russell Baker recounts his family’s experience in the Depression in his memoir, Growing Up, and covers some of the difficulties his family faced, how they endured it, and how he still experienced a fairly typical childhood. …show more content…
One drama they dealt with was his mother Lucy’s decision to give up her daughter Audrey after his father’s death from conditions related to his diabetes (86). The resulting feeling of not being able to hold her own family together had a deep psychological impact on her, as she was a hard workingwoman who had a deep motherly instinct. Yet the Depression still forced her to give up her daughter. The fact that it was difficult for his mother to find work because of her gender was another way the times affected the Baker’s. This, “Unfair advantage bestowed by pantaloons” (29) was a lifelong injustice to Lucy Elizabeth that her son