“Pantoum of the Great Depression”

By Donald Justice

Would somebody please tell me what a Pantoum is – and what’s so Great about the Depression??? Oh, and who is this Justice dude?

Works Cited

Donald Justice Justice uses “Pantoum of the Great Depression”

to reflect on his life in Florida during the 1930s. He rejects the popular sentiment that the Depression was a tragic event, and makes his point by contrasting it with Classical tragedy. “His graceful, down-to-earth poetic voice gently calls our attention to the simplest of things… Justice has a gift for understanding how subtlety and simplicity are effective means for touching readers on deep levels and for forming a bond of mutual discovery. (St. John, 1891).”

More about the poet

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Pantoum• The modern pantoum is a poem of any length,

composed of four-line stanzas in which the second and fourth lines of each stanza serve as the first and third lines of the next stanza. The last line of a pantoum is often the same as the first “ (“Poetic Form”).

• A pantoum is particularly well-adapted to the subject matter of this poem. The repeated lines reinforce the tedium and lack of optimism brought on by the Great Depression.

• Click Here for the Poem• Click Here to Return to Slide 1

Our lives avoided tragedySimply by going on and on,

Without end and with little apparent meaning.Oh, there were storms and small catastrophes.

Simply by going on and on

We managed. No need for the heroic.Oh, there were storms and small catastrophes.

I don't remember all the particulars. Click here

“Pantoum of the Great Depression”

We managed. No need for the heroic.There were the usual celebrations, the usual sorrows.

I don’t remember all the particulars.Across the fence, the neighbors were our chorus.

There were the usual celebrations, the usual sorrows

Thank god no one said anything in verse.The neighbors were our only chorus,And if we

suffered we kept quiet about it.Click Here

At no time did anyone say anything in verse.It was the ordinary pities and fears consumed us,

And if we suffered we kept quiet about it.No audience would ever know our story.

It was the ordinary pities and fears consumed us.We gathered on porches; the moon rose; we were

poor.What audience would ever know our story?

Beyond our windows shone the actual world.Click Here

We gathered on porches; the moon rose; we were poor.

And time went by, drawn by slow horses.Somewhere beyond our windows shown the world.

And time went by, drawn by slow horses.We did not ourselves know what the end was.

The Great Depression had entered our souls like fog.

We had our flaws, perhaps a few private virtues.Click Here

But we did not ourselves know what the end was.People like us simply go on.

We have our flaws, perhaps a few private virtues,But it is by blind chance only that we escape

tragedy.

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Back to the Poem

“And time went by, drawn by slow horses.”

• This line alludes to a funeral procession with one sad person or event following another.

“I don’t remember…”

• The poem’s voice is monotone, without expression or detail. It is as though someone has asked the narrator to recall something painful that memory has blocked in self-defense.

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“The neighbors were our only chorus”In Classical Tragedy, “The Chorus rejoiced in the triumph of good;

it wailed aloud its grief, and sympathized with the woe of the puppets of the gods. It entered deeply into the interest of their fortunes and misfortunes, yet it stood apart, outside of triumph and failure… It was the ideal spectator, the soul being purged, as Aristotle expressed it, by Pity and Fear, flinging its song and its cry among the passions and the pain of others. It was the "Vox Humana" amid the storm and thunder of the gods (Watt, 5)”.

Neither Justice nor his neighbors were tragic heroes. They had to act as the chorus for one another. They were going through the same things and they were sympathetic.

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Catharsis: Getting Our Emotions Out In the Open

• There was no point in complaining. The Ancient Greek audience could feel pity for the hero when they realized what his fate would be, or fear that their fate might be like his, but the Depression was without high drama. All of the neighbors were in the same situation and there was no use bemoaning it.

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“70-75 percent of families still had incomes and concentrated on ‘making do.’ …Nothing edible was ever thrown out or wasted, Left-overs always reappeared over

the next few days. Sunday’s roast would be Monday’s stew, or hash, then Tuesday’s vegetable beef soup, and so on. Liquid from jars or cans of vegetables became a base for soup, and juice from canned fruit could be thickened and

poured over bread and cakes. Indeed, homemakers found many ways to ‘make do’ (Food: 1929-1941, 21-22).”

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“We managed.”

In Justice’s world, there was no tragic hero or need for one -

• There was no one of noble blood to provide the story with dignity

• Everyone judged themselves to be neither better or worse morally than most people.

• Everyone made errors in judgment, and everyone suffered the consequences.

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“Our lives avoided tragedy…”

• Justice indicates that a persistent plodding, the refusal to give up kept his family and their neighbors from experiencing total downfall during the Great Depression.

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There appeared to be no sense of direction. Where was the way out of this dilemma? It was as though we had succumbed to a mental fog, too, and couldn’t begin to think of how to help ourselves.

“ The Great Depression was a global economic crisis that started in 1929. The crisis devastated

the economies of many nations and led to a period of financial hardship for millions of people.

In the history of the United States, no other depression had had such a devastating impact on

U.S. society. During the 12 years of the depression, one-quarter of the work force was unemployed, 5,500 banks closed, and 32,000

businesses went bankrupt” (“Great Depression”).More Information about the Great Depression

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The Great Depression Reflected in Art

• In this lithograph by Mable Dwight created in the 1930s, the eyes tell the story. There is a weariness, a hopelessness about them.

• The linoleum-cut by Julius Weiss reveals the same sadness, but note that the jaws are set in determination to keep going on.

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Physical Signs of The Great Depression Reflected in Art

• Blanche Grambs’ lithograph, No Work, shows the toll that the Depression took on the American workers

• Philip Evergood’s lithograph, Sorrowing Farmers, shows the weary despair and the sagging shoulders of those whose burden had become too great.

• More Art and Photography• Back to the Poem

“At no time did anyone say anything in verse”

• Classical tragedy was written in verse, and Justice has pointed out that this Depression, while sad, was not tragic.

• To speak in verse might be construed as making light of the situation. Certainly, entertainers of the time did this, but to the everyday Jane and Joe there wasn’t much to smile about.

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