By Omer Adnan 9A

Introduction  This presentation is about the great depression in England’s hardship, in a form of interview of a working class man who is alive at this moment, who suffered through everything and knows exactly what things were like, how hard everything was, and how him and other people survived during this hazardous depression. I will be displaying and explaining his thoughts as well as I can.

The old man, told me various, almost all hardships that were faced by the people in the great depression. He expressed and told me the way people felt in that time period, how everything became a massive problem. He focused on the hardships of housing, employment problems, social/leisure hardships, clothing issues and lastly, but not the least the hardships in relation to food and health. In this story/presentation, I will be expressing his thoughts towards the great depression’s hardships and telling you all how difficult the great depression was.

Housing  “Housing was one of the main hardships working class faced in the great depression”.  “Banks failed, people lost all their money, therefore they had to sometimes sell their houses, this caused lost of shelter, bad shelter, leading to depression in people’s minds, making them extremely worried and emotionally hurt”.

Employment  “Men lost their jobs, there was only one person working, that being the man, if the man lost his job, the family didn’t get any money, and that lead to other problems. I had a very rough time”.  “People stopped spending money, that lead to businesses lost money as a result, my friend lost his business, this was a disaster”.  “People who had invested heavily in the Stock Market saw their investments disappear or go way down in value”.  “Taxes raised. Everything got even worse, everyone was put to shame, people had no money, this was appalling”

Clothing  “The depression was so horrifying and lamentable, the whole country was forlorn, people had to wear flour sacks to cover them selves”.  “Many young kids didn’t even wear shirts because their family didn’t have enough money, “*I felt extremely despicable, this was just humiliating*”.

Food/Health  “Farmers was miserable, their crop prices decreased and many lost their farm, food wasn’t produced as efficient as before”.  “Kids got food served (soup and bread) at school because they weren’t getting adequate amount at home”.  “People who got sick could not afford medical treatment in some cases. Many became so depressed that they suffered mental problems, some even committing suicide”.

Conclusion  In conclusion, you can see how this old man felt about the great depression, you can see how humiliating it was at those times, the government wasn’t giving anyone any support, it was completely outrageous. “You all are lucky to be living a happy life here, don’t mess it up and feel for those people who suffered through these terrible calamities”.

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