Water For Elephants By Sara Gruen: Life During The Great Depression

Have you ever wondered what it was like back in the 1920s-1930s? The Great Depression had hit and many people were living in poor conditions. Also, prohibition had been passed as an Amendment. Animal cruelty was higher than normal, during the depression circuses were used to bring people's spirits up for a cheap price. The novel Water for Elephants, written by Sara Gruen follows the Benzini Brothers Circus during the 1930s and deals with the issues of prohibition and animal cruelty. Circuses where popular ways of entertainment in the 1920s-30s. According to the book Circuses written by Janet M. Davis, “The American circus represents a synthesis of various International entertainment traditions,” (Davis). Circus’s contain various acts, sometimes …show more content…
According to the article Life During the Great Depression found in Marquette Univ. History Department, “Many people found themselves out of work and searching for a better life.” The 1930’s was a very hard time for most people living in the United States. The U.S. was in a depression that many people suffered through. Most found themselves out of jobs and searching for a better life. According to the article The Great Depression Hits Farms & Cities in 1930’s written by Tom Morain, “Many families did not have money to buy things, and consumer demand for manufactured goods fell off“ (Tom Morain). Since families were out of work, they were also out of money. Without money they were unable to buy many things. Consumer demand for manufactured goods was no longer there and things started to fall off. According to the article Life During the Great Depression found in Marquette Univ. History Department, “Some women joined the workforce and would do jobs that men previously had held. These women worked as hard as they could to support their families during this difficult time.” (“Life During the Great Depression”) Families needed extra money in order to survive the depression. Women would hold jobs that men previously had to held to support their families along with the men in the household working. The depression had hit, in the 1930s, and many families were out of work and money and went through great …show more content…
According to the article Every Veterinarian has Her Day in Court written by Portia Stewart, “Your state's animal cruelty laws may address both pain and suffering in pets, and Merck says this is important, because it means the law is now recognizing other ways animals can suffer besides physical pain. Whether it's short-term, chronic or intermittent, you need to consider emotional suffering in every case,” (Stewart, Portis). Animals, along with humans, also feel pain and suffer. Animal cruelty laws state things along the lines of this. No matter what kind of suffering, investigators need to it take into consideration. According to the article Every Veterinarian has Her Day in Court written by Portia Stewart, “From a legal standpoint a key component of any animal abuse case is to match up the state's law on animal cruelty to the abused animal's experience. And this means law enforcement may look to veterinarians to testify for these animals,” (Stewart, Portis). Law enforcement has to take the animals experience and compare it to the state laws on animal cruelty. In most situations, they will look to veterinarians to testify for animals because they know more about them than most. According to the article “every veterinarian has her day in court, “A 3- to 4-month old male pit bull, shot six times, hung from the fence outside an abandoned house by his black vinyl collar, his intestines spilling like a waterfall from his