Reily Lynch:
As
many know the The Great Depression was a decade of unemployment, low profits,
low prices, high poverty that affected the entire world in the 1930s. People
became much more frugal and careful of their money. They never wasted anything;
they never threw anything away if it could be used again. In this photograph
captures 4 boys lounging on a hill. Many of the boys friends and family reacted
to the great depression with sadness confusion and anger. U.S citizens were
losing their jobs everywhere. Chaos was surrounding these 4 boys with families
not being able to provide for their children. The Depression had a powerful
impact on family life. To escape the chaos these 4 boys would find a way out
with music. I interpret these boys to be friends and the little one in the left
corner to be one of their little brothers. Taking care of little siblings was a
big help to the mothers who were cooking dinner and taking care of household
chores. These boys seem fairly well dressed perhaps coming back from a long day
at school. Their families were making an extra sacrifice to keep these boys in
school to give them a bright future. Moving forward, on delightful fall
afternoon the boys came up to the hill behind there houses to free their mind.
As the boys sat in a pile of leaves they pulled out their guitar and started to
play some music. As the music played they sang along. For an hour or so their
problems would fade away. Music for these boys is a form of expression their
time to express themselves because during the day they don’t have a minute of
time to relax. They get to put America’s complications away for a moment. They
seem to be very focused in the music and don’t have a single other thing on
their mind. This is considered their escape. They rarely get time for themselves
and are under a lot of pressure. They go to school during the week try and help
out with the family the majority of the time. They take care of younger
siblings and try to help around the house as much as possible. They also have
the burden of being the man in the house, temporarily while their fathers are
out trying to find work in the bad economy. When supper is ready they will part
their ways and get back to reality. Over all Shahn did a great job capturing
this photo.
I like how Reily developed a very specific narrative of friends relaxing and the possible circumstances of their lives. The glue that holds this interpretations together well is the use of specific details from the photograph to support the narrative, including the clothes that the boys are wearing and the limited clues that are provided about their location. This perspective is a valuable reminder that moments of solace could still be found during the Depression, and were sometimes even generated by the acknowledgment of shared hardship.
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