During the time of the Great Depression this nation underwent a series of changes. Many of its wealthy and middle class people lost everything they had and fell to poverty. Because the wealthy could not resist to such unforeseen conditions, some preferred to commit suicide rather than live the miserable life that encountered them. The people who were already in poverty fell to suffer from even worse conditions than they had previous to the depression. In Charlie Chaplin’s film “Modern Times” the crisis that the Great Depression caused is revealed through its characters. Charlie, a factory worker whose boss had cameras installed in every corner of the factory to ensure the worker’s effectiveness, suffered from the work overload caused by his boss. At a time of despair, business owners solely cared about beating their competition and maximizing profits despite the fact that people did not have a cent to buy food. The cold heartedness, ignorance and greed of the wealthy can be seen in the film through the rough treatment the factory workers received. At a time like the Great Depression, the nation’s people needed to be united to defeat the continuous struggle against poverty, but instead the wealthy continued to only care for their own profits.
The harsh life that individuals encountered during the Great Depression led them to take actions that they may not have even considered under distinct circumstances. The woman, who was left homeless after her father died, stole from bakeries in order to feed herself. Her hunger forced her to steal in order to survive. Like her, many others were faced with the same situation. The conditions to live in the society were so dreadful that the character Charlie preferred to live in jail because, while imprisoned, he at least had his meals and shelter secured. The agony had to be unbearable for someone to prefer confinement to liberty. The distress that the people suffered during the depression is simply unimaginable to most people today. The people in our society sometimes do not take the time to reflect on the positive things in their life and take them for granted. We should take the depiction of life during the depression to motivate us to be more appreciative of our lives.
