Social disturbances that affect the whole community is not a new story anymore. In the 1920s, the Great Depression certainly created social unrest that was so hard to ignore. People reacted to the situation at first with ease, as if pretending that it is not happening. But the reality is too stiff to set aside. During these times, people began losing their job, families were pressured, and children were brought out from their schools because their parents could no longer pay for education. Small businesses were closing down, and large companies began downsizing because they are already losing their capital into the economic loss that the world is going through.
The same thing is happening now. The only difference is that this time, the situation comes from an almost unseen enemy.
Asya Shmaryan, under the pen name Aysa Florez wrote the stage play certainly intends to show how social conditions like the Great Depression have changed the people, their perceptions, and how they handle the pressures in life.
In her writing, she highlights how people have become dependent primarily on the economy that a sudden drop in it has created colossal chaos even in their essential lives. People getting sacked from their jobs, businesses closing, and innocent people losing their life’s savings- almost losing hope ever to survive the situation. With nothing to use to buy their food, nothing to pay to secure their shelter, and no money to buy themselves the clothes they need; many people, particularly healthcare providers, fell into depression.
The way she has described what happened then in her book The Tale of Jeannette reflects a significant familiarity with what the world is going through today. Unexpectedly as the situation is, Covid19 is certainly creating massive changes in different countries around the globe. And as it was before, the deciding factor is the economy to which the country is dependent. Their economy primarily decides the people’s lives and the possibility of their survival against the growing challenge that the pandemic offers.
Nonetheless, the remarkable thing that Aysa Florez points out in her writing that modern society today could learn from is how the communities then survived. In her narrative, she points out that instead of the economy saving the people, every individual’s resilience brought them out of the Great Depression in the past. The way they treasured their families and themselves, and finally realized what is really important in life apart from what is believed about money being the dependable source of protection during these times. Their new sense of realization of what is most important in their lives has become the reason for their survival.
In the same manner, the Great Depression then serves an excellent mirror for the society today to give attention as it faces the pressures and challenges of the pandemic. Instead of looking into how to protect the money, what could likely save the world now is looking back to what is really important in life and using them as the source of strength to keep focused on aiding in the way the pandemic is viewed on a more positive outlook rather than the dread that it has become.
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