The Housewife In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

In the months leading up to World War Two, additional labor was needed in the United States. Men had to fight in the war, so they left their jobs unoccupied. Women were needed to work in the war front, as well as in “essential civilian” jobs--jobs that kept the home front running smoothly. Examples of these occupations are teachers, taxi drivers, child-care workers, bank tellers, restaurant workers, and police officers (Colman). Housewives were the only group of people who were not contributing to the war efforts, or in Teresa English’s words “the only untapped demographic.”

During WWII to most men were drafted to join the military. This some what forced many women to take on the jobs most held by men at the time. When the Baby Boom happened, many Americans viewed this as a chance to get women back as household keepers. Many magazines at the time promoted sending women back to housewives. They would post articles like “Cooking To Me Is Poetry” and “Femininity Begins At Home”.

The jobs were more varied than before as women were no longer being shielded from the war and its hardships. Many organizations did not allow for women to work as soldiers, but they were telephone operators in America, also known as “Hello Girls” (“Women During World War I”). Women were taking bigger steps towards equality and challenging the social norm of women being housewives by working the jobs traditionally meant for men, while successfully creating a stable Homefront and workforce for the war. There were still restrictions as women could not to work abroad or on board ships as they were not thought to be trained enough to be near battle (“Women During World War I”). Though not all women could work, others became volunteers, which was “of central importance to middle class women” (“Campbell”).

The industries changed to the mass production of war materials, and without the people working in the war industries, we would have never survived and won the war. However, one of the biggest attitude changes were the ones women created about women working in the factories alongside men. Just like WWI, when the men went off to work, women would work with materials to help provide for the family. Women did the same in WWII, but they kept working. Everyone’s attitude changed toward women in the workplace.

The war had provided a variety of employment opportunities for women and the most common job for women was at home, working in factories and filling in positions for their husbands, fathers, and brothers in their absence. Although the highest demand for workers were in previously male-dominated

World War II is very similar to World War II with women joining the industrial workforce with over fifty percent. Women also joined the Women’s Army Corps and WAVES or Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service, but women were not allowed in combat. Many of these women that joined these two organizations performed many duties including clerical, nursing, and transportation duties with 240,000 women in their ranks. Women who took the jobs at home including the industrial jobs, textile jobs, defense jobs, and other jobs their income did go up as they moved to more important positions. Propaganda was used again to persuade women to join the war effort and help supply the men overseas.

It is a common misconception that women never worked before the war and that large amounts of women suddenly streamed into the workforce picking up work that they have never done before. However, contrary to popular belief, that is not entirely true. It was definitely the case that middle to upper class American families could afford to let the woman stay at home as they were not required to work or to contribute to the household expenses. However, many women of a lower economic status and minority groups had to work. They were not able to enjoy the luxury that was staying home to look after their kids or husband.

Roles of Women's in World War 1 and World War 2 Women's lives back in the 20's and 40's had a big change difference within the time frame of the wars. They were the maid of the house hold when the men went off to work or to join the army. Women weren't allow to have jobs when married.

From 1914-1918 women were hardly present overseas, although the few that were helping across the ocean were nurses, or drivers of the nursing trucks. At the end of World War 1, women did not want to leave their jobs in the factories which slowly led to a popular trend; double income homes. The world went into the Great Depression and in 1939, World War 2 started opening more jobs for women. Women worked in factories like they had in the First World War, but the biggest change in women at work and at war, was women were now allowed to do more overseas. Technology had changed and women were now allowed to fly airplanes, and operate radar towers.

Unfortunately as the war came to an end their positions in the labor force were proven to not be permanent. The image of Rosie the Riveter and what she stood for was proven to be a glorified symbol compared to the reality of their roles. Although at the time it seemed like women were making social advancements, after the war ended women were reverted back to their old social ways. In 1946, one year after the war there was a decrease of half a million women in “craftsmen and foremen” positions and the percentage of women in service positions increased. By April 1947 women were back to working service jobs and were reverted back to the same pay they were making before the war began.

Linda defends Willy and insists that Willy, as a traveling salesman, merely exhausts himself rather than become crazy. Even if Willy’s financial reality reveals the fact that he can never come true his American dream, Linda still refuses to break his fantasies and see through his lies. Instead, she supports Willy’s American dream and believes in Willy’s idea that success is possible for anyone. Even though Willy is often rude to her and ignores her opinions, she protects him at all costs. She loves Willy, so she can accept all of his shortcomings.

Before World War II began, women were not a large part of the workforce. Women were expected to stay at home and take care of the children and the house while their husbands went to work. The Second World War changed these views and women’s labour was recognized as a valuable resource. Women’s employment was a new idea and was strange for some people to see. The beginning of the war was a pivotal point in the changes coming for women in the workforce.

World War I, a crucial event in the history of not only Australia, but the world, occurred from July 28th, 1914 and ceased on the 11th of November, 1918. During these four years, the role of women within Australian society was modified and changed for history. Throughout WWI, women had various jobs including providing medical aid and support to the men who were fighting in the war. This evolved into women completing engineering work and crucial public roles such as working as police, transport conductors and firefighters, as a vast majority of the men that would usually complete these jobs were fighting in the war and were unable to fulfil their occupation. This new physical asset to the role of women changed the way they were seen from then

Older times were not always the best and most people back then had it harder than those today. “To fill the gap left by a generation of fighting men, more than a million women took the chance to join the workforce…,” according to Kate Adie. Before the 1900s, women tended to household chores and stayed home to watch the children rather than being in the workforce because those jobs were for men only; however, they were fighting for equality and wanted to join the workforce. Once World War One began women were the only ones around to be in the workforce because all the men were off fighting in the war. Women in the 1960’s fought hard to get their rights in the workforce and were successful at doing so.

In both of these texts the endings evoke an emotion of pity towards Willy and Gregor because of their sacrifices. Part of the pity is evoked during the funeral of Willy and almost no one showed up. Besides simply being sad for the fact that a man died nearly alone, this also connects to the idea that Willy Loman was a man whose name “was never in the paper”. This idea comments that the lower classes do not receive attention when in reality “attention must be paid”. Linda says this to Biff and Happy who both have been blind to Willy’s situation which is a reflection of the upper classes’ blindness towards the situation of the lowers classes.