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Giselle Mendoza
English 50
Prof Gifford
9 November 2015
The Economy in the Great Depression & Now
Todays recession is not like the Great Depression because the government has gained
knowledge from the 1930s. Inflation was a big factor for both the Great Depression and our
current recession. Now things have changed there are actually many jobs out there for people but
the economy is still not that good. The points made in the film Modern Times by Charlie
Chaplin set in the 1930s during the Great Depression are relevant to todays economy, but they
also show how much our current economy has changed over the years such as unemployment,
poverty, and hunger.
Modern Times begins with the Tramp working in a factory. He works in a factory,
tightening bolts that pass by on a conveyor belt. One day he has a nervous breakdown from the
stress of his job and starts doing things he shouldnt be doing and gets send to prison. Then he
gets released for good behavior, he goes not looking for trouble but is once more arrested for
picking up the red construction flag and ending up as the apparent leader of the workers union.
After having an enjoyable prison stay, he is released but finds life on the outside difficult because
he asks the officer if he can stay for longer. He tries to get thrown back in prison by taking the
blame for an orphaned young woman who was caught stealing some bread. This shows how bad
those times were living out there because inside prison he would get food and had somewhere

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comfortable to sleep. It also tells us that the young woman whos named Gamine was so
desperate for food she had to steal a piece of bread to have something to eat. She would also steal
bananas and feed the kids around her town that didnt have food and take some to her two little
sisters that didnt have food to eat either and they didnt have a mother. Bananas and bread was
what kept their stomachs full because they had nothing else and it was that bad that they didnt
have money for at least a bread or banana because Gamine would steal them all the times.

In 1933, at the worst point in the Great Depression years, unemployment rates in the
United States reached almost 25% with more than eleven million people looking for work. This
is just terrifying and unbelievable that it was this bad. In the film it shows a scene when The
Tramp is going to a factory and there are a lot of men standing outside the gates pushing and
shoving against each other to try to get through the doors, because if you made it inside it meant
you were technically hired and part of the company. The Tramp just starts pushing everyone to
get through and was one of the last ones to make in those doors. This shows how desperate
people really needed a job and wanted to work. But sadly many just didnt have the chance and
stayed behind. Currently to get a job you have to get a background check which means they take
your fingerprints and do a record check. Before, they wouldnt check any of this. But, technology
is taking over many jobs Deanna Isaacs believes that We lost a lot of jobs to technology before
we lost them to other countries and I agree with her because sooner or later people are not going
to have jobs because technology is advancing so much. Another thing is that many jobs require
more than having a diploma now as well they want more people to have more education. Barry
Ritholtz states that Anyone who believes school doesnt matter should recognize that enormous
unemployment range of 1.9 to 9.0 percent. Jobs look for people with more education now.

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Later, Gamine has found a job in a cafe with singing waiters and promises to get the
Tramp a job too. They start their journey together, walking down the road toward the horizon.
They both talk about their future house and picture it how they want it to be this shows how they
should keep going and that their future will be bright one day. The tramp fails miserably as a
waiter but succeeds in entertaining the customers, and it looks like the two have found steady
employment. However, orphanage authorities arrive and try to take Gamine away, but she
escapes with the tramp. At the end it shows the two wandering along an empty road. She starts to
cry, but the tramp encourages her not to give up. To me this tells me that people wanted to give
up in those times because it was so difficult and hard for them to have money. I myself would
think of giving up knowing that there was no work and maybe not even having a home to live at.
But, many people had families and had no other option but to keep trying to look for a job.
Todays economic news shows that while we are still fighting back from the worst
economic crisis since the Great Depression, we are making progress. While we are still
rebuilding our economy and working to recover from the worst crisis since the Great Depression,
we are making progress and the last thing we should do is return to the economic policies that
failed us in the past. The Great Depression was a very devastating event in history. I could never
imagine having to go through that type of event. With the New Deal, the American economy
recovered gradually. After knowing everything that people went through in the Great Depression
it makes me be thankful for so much more now and now we dont need to struggle to look for
jobs.