Difference between revisions of "328--Week 9 Questions/Comments"
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For me the most interesting letter to Eleanor Roosevelt was the second one. The woman thanked Roosevelt for her reply to the last letter, but then said she did not need charity just a loan, even sending in collateral she claimed was valuable. However, what bothers me here is not the fact that the first lady could not possibly begin to make individual loans to people, but the size of this woman's ego or pride. She claimed she gave up her rings which held the highest emotional value to her, this is not true. What holds the highest value in this woman's life is clearly her ability to save face, her pride. If she was truly desperate, and in such great need that she would ask a loan from a stranger, she should be willing to give up her greatest asset; that of her ego, and take the charity that the government has set up for her. I have noticed the same trend more subtly throughout the rest of the readings, what is causing this? Is it a few isolated cases or does this pride fit in with the overall atttidue of the day, or somehow into the middle class ideals we have talked so extensively about? --- Landon Davis | For me the most interesting letter to Eleanor Roosevelt was the second one. The woman thanked Roosevelt for her reply to the last letter, but then said she did not need charity just a loan, even sending in collateral she claimed was valuable. However, what bothers me here is not the fact that the first lady could not possibly begin to make individual loans to people, but the size of this woman's ego or pride. She claimed she gave up her rings which held the highest emotional value to her, this is not true. What holds the highest value in this woman's life is clearly her ability to save face, her pride. If she was truly desperate, and in such great need that she would ask a loan from a stranger, she should be willing to give up her greatest asset; that of her ego, and take the charity that the government has set up for her. I have noticed the same trend more subtly throughout the rest of the readings, what is causing this? Is it a few isolated cases or does this pride fit in with the overall atttidue of the day, or somehow into the middle class ideals we have talked so extensively about? --- Landon Davis | ||
| + | I think that pride can be considered a weakness. I could understand a child asking for something as trivial as skates, but the mother sending a shopping list to Eleanor Roosevelt was bothersome. During a time of extreme financial hardship this women focussed on the clothing of an infant. Then I thought that maybe this woman may not have been able to apply to the Welfare Association. In my interview with a senior woman, she mentioned how her mother during the depression found a way to feed the family and save money. She was suggesting aid from the government, which her husband refused. There was a prevailing attitude at the time that if you were working you were not poor, and therefore did not need the government's assistance. Is the act of asking for a baby's layette prompted by this mother's vanity. This woman had to have clothing from previous children, but she seemed intent on having a new set. Is the ability to dress a child, even during the worst of times, a measure of her ability to be a good mother?--LisaM | ||
I found the reading of "American Women ASk Eleanor for Help" Interesting as well as heartbreaking. It amazed me to read that within a day Eleanor would have 5 to 8 thousand letters and she made a huge effort to either answer them herself or pass it on to the correct agency. It surprised me the things the ladies asked for varying from roller skates to a job for a husband. How was Roosevelt able to answer all of these letters and was she able to satisfy the needs and wants of most? -- Rose Ferguson | I found the reading of "American Women ASk Eleanor for Help" Interesting as well as heartbreaking. It amazed me to read that within a day Eleanor would have 5 to 8 thousand letters and she made a huge effort to either answer them herself or pass it on to the correct agency. It surprised me the things the ladies asked for varying from roller skates to a job for a husband. How was Roosevelt able to answer all of these letters and was she able to satisfy the needs and wants of most? -- Rose Ferguson | ||
