ipl-logo

The Housewife In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

500 Words2 Pages

During WWll, men were drafted and they had to leave their jobs behind, this gave women an opportunity to pick up the slack (Gourley 3). This also left women to juggle being a housewife and the work they did in the men’s absence, resulting in 1 out of 4 women having a job as well as being a housewife during WWll (3). However, after the war men went back to work and some women went back to just being a housewife. Not all women, however, went back to the house; the percent of women working in a professional field increased from 11.9% to 14.2% in 1920 (Deutsch 2). Women kept jobs such as telephone operators and secretaries, leaning towards a more developed job instead of being a housemaid (2). Despite that, the discrimination of women still continued, …show more content…

Linda has a major impact on the main character, willy, she lives for him and will never defy him, even when it is apparent that Willy is not in the right mind. Linda often feeds Willy’s delusions about himself; when Willy started to admit that he was at fault and that he almost hit a kid, linda countered with, “ Maybe it’s your glasses. You never went for your new glasses.” (Miller Act One). She often makes excuses for Willy and by doing that she is helping Willy, and herself, stay static. This is extremely important because what drove Willy to his ultimate demise was the fact that he was living in a delusional world and had just realized how everything he thought was true, was not. This static attitude of theirs also rubbed off on their sons. Happy developed into a static character when he would not admit his faults and never told the truth, much like his father. On the other hand, Biff had enough willpower to break away from his static family and acknowledged his lies and faults, however he wasted more than 30 years of his life in a lie because of the lies Linda and WIlly told him. WIlly had the power to stop all of the lies and delusions early, however it did not help that he had Linda always boosting his ego and making excuses for him, which affected all of her

Show More
Related

  • Research Paper On Rosie The Riveter

    1133 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.”

    Read More

  • Baby Boom Research Paper

    519 Words  | 3 Pages

    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”.

    Read More

  • Did Women Challenge The Social Norms Of The 1920s

    1170 Words  | 5 Pages

    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”).

    Read More

  • How WWII Changed America

    474 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Women's Work In Ww1 Australia Essay

    1459 Words  | 6 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Women's Suffrage At Home

    1005 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Women's Roles In Ww2

    992 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Canadian Women

    942 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Women After The Civil War Essay

    521 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Death Of A Salesman And The Metamorphosis Analysis

    1791 Words  | 8 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Womens Role In Ww1 Essay

    894 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Antigone And The American Dream Essay

    924 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Willy And Biff

    741 Words  | 3 Pages

    Biff, a consequence of Willy, attempts to bring Willy out of his fantasies and his see the realities of his life, but in the end fails to. The two are different in their ideas, demeanors and personas, yet have some akin characteristics.     Willy and Biff’s physical traits are different. At what point, Willy tells his wife Linda, “I’m fat. I’m very foolish to look at, Linda.”

    Read More

  • Theme Of Betrayal In Death Of A Salesman

    1111 Words  | 5 Pages

    Also, the affair that Willy was in might have affected Biff and made him unable to keep a job. Willy has such insecurities with betrayal and himself that not only does he believe his family betrays him but also people on the outside too. His boss, for example, just because his boss fired him, Willy takes it as a form of betrayal even though he tells him, “there’s no room for betrayal in the business

    Read More

  • Linda Loman In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

    821 Words  | 4 Pages

    This is what Linda said to Willy to encourage him. The character of Linda helps to create the guilt and regrets in Willy. Miller created many themes in the play, and one of the most significant one is betrayal. Linda and Willy’s relationship helps develop this theme. Willy betrays his promises to Linda through their marriage and Biff’s trust by having an affair with “The Woman”.

    Read More

More about The Housewife In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

Open Document