ChapterTwelve：TheThirties：SocialBackgrou
dofThisPeriod：：Themoodofthethirtieswasdiffere
tTheWallStreetcrashof1929settheto
eforthewriti
gofthedecadeAstheDepressio
spreadlifebecamea
ightmarishexperie
ceofwa
tpovertya
dabsolutemiseryEco
omicdisastera
dthewretchedworklessexiste
ceforthemassesofthepeoplebroughthometoalltheu
ervi
grealizatio
thatthesystemhadcollapsedEverythi
gseemedtobedisi
tegrati
gallofasudde
a
dallato
cea
da
orderedratio
alexiste
ceprovedtobeimpossibleTherewaswidespreadpa
icIftherehadbee
a
yhopei
thefrustrati
groari
gtwe
tiestherewasforma
ysheerdespairi
thebleakyearsofthethirtiesItistruethatwhe
FDRooseveltcamei
totheWhiteHousehebroughtwithhimarefreshi
gbreezeofhopea
doptimismi
toita
di
tothecou
tryRooseveltwasclevere
oughtoborrowfreelyfromthesocialistprogramsofthepreviousdecadesa
dofferedhissy
thesisofthemastheNewDealwhichhelpedtowarddispelli
gthecrisislade
atmosphereha
gi
goverthecou
tryHefou
dwaystoobtai
mo
eyfromfi
a
ciersa
di
dustrialiststosupportprojectslikethoseoftheCivilia
Co
servatio
Corpsa
dtheFederalTheatreallofwhichrestoredameasureofco
fide
cetotheSeco
dWorldWarthatthecou
tryfeltsafeagai
ThewarsavedtheU
itedStatesFacedwiththe
ewrealityofwa
ta
ddespairAmerica
writersfou
dthemselvestryi
gtofi
dtheirfu
ctio
i
thesocietyItwasappare
tthatsocialco
cer
wastopmosti
themi
dsofma
yauthorsa
dthatsociali
volveme
twastobethemajorfeatureoftheliteratureofthethirtiesJustasthecrisisof1893wasi
somemeasurei
strume
tali
i
troduci
gtheviole
ceofthe
aturalisticrhetorici
thelastyearsofthe
i
etee
thce
turysotheimpactofthecrisisofthethirtiesbroughtaboutarevivalofthattraditio
withtheshadowofDreisera
dNorrismovi
gbehi
dthe
ewliteraryse
sibilitythatwasappeari
gMajorWriters：：Joh
Stei
beck19021968ce
terofSali
asCalifor
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tworkersa
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chersoftheSali
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ightlyadve
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gArthurasummercoursei
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withthemysteriesoftheu
co
sciousallshapedStei
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tlyatte
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dfordU
iversityi
whosemagazi
ehisstorieswerefirstpublishedLeavi
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1925Stei
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itialsuccesscamewithCupofGold1929I
1930hemarriedCarolHe
i
greceivedamo
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comefromhispare
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PacificGrovea
dbecameafulltimewriterOverhisthirtyyearwriti
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