This time period was a period that followed rapid spending a modernizing. Before the Great Depression, consumerism was at a very high point and people were not very cautious with money. Once the Great Depression hit, people's lives radically changed. The economy failed, prices rose, the stock market crashed, people lost their jobs/houses, and so much more. This time period was a period of loss, struggle and fight. People during this time had to work and fight hard for basic necessities in their lives, nothing came easy to them anymore. It was a period where the American Dream no longer looked attainable and dreams shifted from luxury to living. The pieces as well as the literature reflect just this. Those depicted are struggling to just live day to day. Their lives are solemn and they are having to fight to get help, or spend day after day attempting to provide in order to keep food on their table and a roof over their heads. Nothing in this time period was luxurious, it was work or die and struggle to survive.