We’ll post thoughts, images, and stories related to the ROAD TRIP project here from among the various campus partners. To send in your own, simply send an email to us, and we will post in your respective area. Thank you.
Department of Theater
Knowlton School of Architecture
Humanities Scholars
Fisher College of Business
History Department
College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences
Comparative Studies
Community at large
A couple of thoughts, after Thursday night’s discussion.
We talked about “what would make it real?”–at what point would the reality of losing home/status/security sink in? I began to think about Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, “Fear of Falling,” and wondered whether there aren’t a series of small hanging-on-by-the-fingernails moments as members of our family try to preserve a sense of identity, fend off shame, insist “this can’t be happening,” and so on. (The Joads have been dispossessed by the time we meet them, and Tom is all alone coming home from prison: they’re over the brink already.) For my students, at least, losing a home is inconceivable, something that happens to other people; the realization that “WE are the Others” comes as a shock. (In the novel, Tom bridles at being called an “Okie”–when a term to identify the new migrants turns up, we’ll know that history has arrived at last)
My other reflection had to do with the proliferation of media through which to tell the story: isn’t it likely that different members of the family will want to tell the story differently, at least as far their own role is concerned? So one parent might try to preserve a sense of normalcy (denial) while the other wants to cut all ties (anger); one kid might enjoy the freedom of not going to school, while another tries to rebuild a sense of home in the car. There are plenty of competing narratives out there–in fact, there are conflicting stories about who’s to blame for the dislocation (something the Joads didn’t really have to face)–so that there’s bound to be a struggle over who gets to tell what story. The Joads’ failure is communal from the start (our people), whereas everyone today is deemed responsible for their own failure.
Very interesting project. As a staff member of a social services agency who plays a front line role in the fight to prevent foreclosure for the individuals you discuss I find it interesting that you received funding to discuss and highlight the “faces” of foreclosure. Unfortunately for those individuals facing foreclosure $140,000 would have been much better spent saving their homes then filming their plight. Reflections are great, but the ability and reality of saving homes is what truly can impact lives and communities. I suggest instead of reflecting on feelings of individuals losing their homes you research ways to become involved in solutions, direct service to help save homes and rebuild lives.