Poetry from the Great Depression: Brother Can You Spare a Dime

The art and writings from the era of the Great Depression in America of the late 1920s and 1930s are often centered on the depth of the economic recession which followed a period a hyperinflation in the 1910s and 1920s.  After the preceding period of hyperinflation, where the prices and values of stocks had risen to abnormally high levels, there was a decline in the value of assets, greatly straining banks and other financial institutions (Nelson, 2009).  Nearly half of all banks failed, and there was a general and nationwide loss of confidence in the economy, leading to reduced levels of spending, demand, and production, aggravating the downward spiral.  By 1932, manufacturing had fallen to 54 percent of its 1929 level, and unemployment had risen to between 12 and 15 million workers, 25-30 percent of the work force.  The Great Brother Can You Spare a Dime by Yip Harburg is a poem from 1931 which rings in the troubles of the people, particularly in the lower classes, who were often left penniless and starving during this time period.

Plot

            In taking consideration of the plot of the poem, one gets a sense that the narrator of the poem is the general voice of the patriotic American, a person who used to have full faith in the principles of his country and fellow countrymen.  In the first stanza, the narrator describes how he believed he was building a dream state and followed the majority of people in moving forward into the capitalistic culture.  He says that when there was farming or fighting to do in the name of his country, he was there, and could not possibly expect that one day, he would be standing in line for bread.  Moving to the second stanza, the narrator describes how he was one of the many who worked to build the nation’s railroads and skyscrapers, and that now he has to ask his neighbor for money to survive.  The third stanza goes on to capture an image of a Yankee soldier moving through the fields with a drum, fighting for the unity of his country, and the forth stanza calls the audience to remember how they called him Al, a pal, a buddy, and that now his friends are gone.

Style of Writing

            Harburg’s style of writing is a mixture of rhyming and repetition, lending a lilting song like rhythm to the poem and an echoing quality which is almost ghostlike, a recurring memory, or drum like, a thumping heart.  The end word of each line is involved in a rhythmic pattern which follows from the first line to the last in this pattern: AABB CCCC DEDE CC DEDE CC.  Along with the rhyming of the poem, there is the constant repetition of several words throughout the length of the poem, such as railroad, tower, remember, dream, time, dime, drum, doodly dum, swell, and hell.  These words are especially significant is describing the suffering and disillusionment of the people who experienced the black years of the Great Depression.  Of particular implication are the words swell and hell, which do well to remind the reader of the hyperinflation and fancy times in the 1910s and 1920s, when especially the upper classes were on the move, which preceded the hell of the late 1920s and 1930s.

Symbols

            The usage of symbols in a poem call attention to the fact that  sometimes a word can take on greater significance and point to other or deeper meanings.  Harburg utilizes many symbols throughout the crafting of his poem, and uses these symbols as markers for a greater and more in depth story of the American experience of the Great Depression.  With words like swell and hell, Harburg reminds the audience that the courses people take throughout their lives cannot be taken blindly, because there a certain ups and downs and that life has to exist in a balance.  There should be no march through the trenches without knowing exactly for who and why a person is fighting.  Pounding the drum in a struggle with and against other people has to be done with clear rationale, and not with innocent or naïve enjoyment, such as the swell doodly dum of the marching soldiers.  Although Harburg is truly calling to mind every American, the soldiers in towers and in the military, on railroads and farms, he is particularly focused on the blue collar workers and lower class people who were especially tricked and used up by the corrupt business practices of the upper classes.

Denotation

            Although Harburg uses symbols to draw attention to deeper meanings and a more extensive understanding of the words of his well crafted poem, he also uses specific words in a very clear and frank way which can be well understood on first glace or surface level.  The literal meanings of his words are enough to paint a clear picture of how it was during the Great Depression, particularly for the people who ended up with the least, the lower classes who were left hopeless and scrounging for help.  The poem certainly uses its words in an unembellished fashion as to strike a sharp chord even with the simplest minded people, and rhythmically calls out a bluesy remembrance of hard times.

Conclusion

            In consideration of the entire poem, Harburg does a magnificent job of creating a powerful and song like literary composition which conveys meaning in a variety of ways, through his unique writing style, the easily understandable plot, the richness of his symbolism, and the clarity of his denotation.  By reviewing and analyzing the poem, or simply hearing it sung, one is struck by the painful truth of the ethical weaknesses of America which repeatedly come back to plague this country.  Hopefully, by remembering poem like this, people can be more careful and forward thinking in their personal beliefs and decision making.