Space.
The 1920’s came to a devastating end, and the Great Depression came around to take the Roaring Twenties place on the stage. For the next decade, America tumbled into a shroud of darkness and everything began falling apart. Outer-space symbolizes the 1930’s as a grim place in time, beating down on even the strongest.
During this time, Americans lived in loneliness and struggles. The man in this picture represents immigrant life as he sits on his own planet, his own world, without anyone else there to support him. In the book Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck represents the immigrant struggles that appeared during the 1930s through George and Lenny. From afar the stars and planets may seem to be close together, just as Lenny and George were, but as the reader digs deeper these objects are actually separated and isolated from each other with nothing but darkness to accompany them. The person in this piece has his back turned towards us, symbolizing the yearning of an immigrant for company and by not showing his face, it represents the foreigners as unknown and unimportant people. This lonesome depiction also symbolizes the forlorn hope for the American Dream. When the Great Depression came, this dream was tossed further away into the darkness of space, leaving only a small glimpse of light for the people, which is what the stars represent as well. The characters in the book all share the dream of a perfect farm, but in reality, this was impossible to obtain. Lenny and George, along with the other migrant workers, are just a minuscule part of this vast universe of the Great Depression who struggled every day to survive in their gray brutal world alone.
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The lives of the Americans were soaked in dull colors by the solemn atmosphere that hovered over their decade. Everything was in black and white as the condition of the nation didn’t allow for relaxation and color. In this photo, the colorless picture represents the Depression and the people with their planet faces symbolize the harsh loneliness that everyone had to deal with. The two girls in the photo seem to be slowly disintegrating from the inside which represents the decade eating away at people and the retreat of companionship from each other. As shown through Of Mice and Men, there was almost always a separation between characters when they tried to befriend each other, such as the wife’s failed flirtations with the workers and most notably the murder of Lenny by his closest friend George. The hazy picture gives off a desolate feel just as the Great Depression did. Although there are small bright stars surrounding the girls, they can’t reach out to their hopes in the dark unforgiving space.
LET'S GO EXTINCT
by Fanfarlo A moment of light A flare of day Before the door is closed again A tiny spark Lost in the dark These tired symbols that dance around Let’s go extinct End of the line I wanna go Let’s get misplaced All obsolete I wanna go Cause it’s clear the wheels have turned We’re standing in the way of ourselves The world will go on without us Yes it’s clear the world Will go on without us And the dust will rearrange itself |
These specs of light that the stars radiate in space symbolize the shattered pieces of the American dream that was destroyed by the 1930’s black space. In the song, Let’s Go Extinct, the lyrics uses space to represent a sort of melancholic and somber atmosphere. In it, they say, “A tiny spark/Lost in the dark/These tired symbols that dance around” which refers to the stars lost in space. This represents the dream that was swallowed up by the Depression and how Americans could only have a glimpse of it and nothing more. Lenny and George’s utopian farm was a symbol, a celestial object, that constantly dance around in their minds but could never come true. The song goes on to say ,”end of the line...all obsolete” which refers to the end of prosperity and hope from the decade before. The roar from the twenties was “obsolete”, no longer produced, as the Great Depression of outer space swallowed it up.
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The 1930’s was a downward turn for the Americans as everything came crashing down. From the Great Depression to the lonesome immigrants, there was little room for light and companionship. Although there were some specs of hope from the stars, they were hopelessly engulfed by the darkness of space.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- "Let's Go Extinct - Fanfarlo." SongLyrics.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2016.
- Space. Digital image. wordpress.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2016.
- Space Man. Digital image. Squarespace.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2016.
- Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin, 1993. Print.