Lynn’s Reviews > Tobacco Road > Status Update
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"They saw no cause for abandoning life-long habits.....everybody had always burned over the land each spring, and they continued because their fathers had done it." These families were rooted in tradition that defied the changing times. Factories were now supplying folks with a living thus separating them from those left behind on defunct farms. Farm fields were incapable of providing the crops of earlier time.
— Nov 28, 2020 11:38AM
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Nov 28, 2020 11:20AM
The Lester family, caught in the doldrums brought about by the depression, the desperation it brought, and the utter helplessness of this starving family, lived a life of few pleasures except sex, snuff, and a few turnips stolen. How anyone could have survived the conditions this family endured is impossible to fathom. Family members all sleeping in the same room, roof fallen in, snuff as comfort food, no food except mash. Yet, there were ways for them to alleviate some of the deprivations if they could just break away from tradition. There is hope in the city factories where some Lester children already procured jobs. Jeeter, however, is wedded to farming. Since he has no means of farming, he and his family starve. Sexual promiscuity, religious hypocrisy, and bigotry are themes woven into this desperate family situation. As lurid as this sounds, there is great merit in this novel. Caldwell is a master storyteller using historical facts to illuminate the agony the Depression caused those who could not adapt to the changing times in the deep South.
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