Free Essays on The Bones Of Plenty

George Custer was Both the Victim and Villain of his own Hardship The American dream - to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave-the land of opportunity. The dream was to live the way you wanted, to strike it rich and retire early. This dream was always there, but many faced a very rude awakening when the Great Depression struck first the farmers, then the country, and soon after, the entire world. Lois Phillips Hudson, in her novel, The Bones of Plenty, wrote of the hardships of one small North Dakota wheat farming family that occurred over a period of a little over a year during the heart of the Great Depression. Hudson pointed out that not all were beaten by this horrific period of history, and many could get through it, but it was how an individual handled the situation that made the difference. With a name like George Custer, he certainly lived up to his name. General George Armstrong Custer had become famous as a United States Army Officer and is best known now for his role in the Battle of Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876 in what was then the Montana Territory. This battle was also known as Custer’s Last Stand and was referred to many times metaphorically in the novel. During this battle Custer attacked an Indian camp before he had known that he was vastly outnumbered. His unit became surrounded with odds greatly in favor of the enemy, but he still fought until he himself was killed by his own stubbornness. This reminds us of the way George Custer, the wheat farmer from North Dakota, let his stubbornness and temper take control of his life and send him and his family spiraling down the never-ending black hole of bankruptcy and drifting from town to town, trying to end up â€Å"on the west coast somewheres.† (pg 434) It was his own pride and arrogance that dealt him the final blow that destroyed the roots that his wife so desperately clung to. But how coul... Free Essays on The Bones Of Plenty Free Essays on The Bones Of Plenty George Custer was Both the Victim and Villain of his own Hardship The American dream - to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave-the land of opportunity. The dream was to live the way you wanted, to strike it rich and retire early. This dream was always there, but many faced a very rude awakening when the Great Depression struck first the farmers, then the country, and soon after, the entire world. Lois Phillips Hudson, in her novel, The Bones of Plenty, wrote of the hardships of one small North Dakota wheat farming family that occurred over a period of a little over a year during the heart of the Great Depression. Hudson pointed out that not all were beaten by this horrific period of history, and many could get through it, but it was how an individual handled the situation that made the difference. With a name like George Custer, he certainly lived up to his name. General George Armstrong Custer had become famous as a United States Army Officer and is best known now for his role in the Battle of Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876 in what was then the Montana Territory. This battle was also known as Custer’s Last Stand and was referred to many times metaphorically in the novel. During this battle Custer attacked an Indian camp before he had known that he was vastly outnumbered. His unit became surrounded with odds greatly in favor of the enemy, but he still fought until he himself was killed by his own stubbornness. This reminds us of the way George Custer, the wheat farmer from North Dakota, let his stubbornness and temper take control of his life and send him and his family spiraling down the never-ending black hole of bankruptcy and drifting from town to town, trying to end up â€Å"on the west coast somewheres.† (pg 434) It was his own pride and arrogance that dealt him the final blow that destroyed the roots that his wife so desperately clung to. But how coul...