History 476

Devine/Adams

Spring 2012

Study Guide for Russell Baker, Growing Up

In Growing Up, Russell Baker recounts his childhood experiences during hard times in the 1930s. The memoir gives us a different view of the Great Depression – one that is humorous, tragic, and reassuring all at once. This is an easy read and shouldn’t take you very long to finish. There will be a quiz on the book in class on Thursday, March 1.

Overview:

This memoir looks at Russell Baker’s experiences growing up in America between the wars. It addresses several important themes in American history. As you read, however, keep in mind these central questions:

• What was life like for Baker, his extended family, and other people he encountered during the Great Depression?

• What effect did the Depression have on these everyday people, and particularly the young people? How did they cope with hard times?

• How did this book give you a more complete sense of what life was like during this period? Do you have a different impression of life in the 1930s after having read Baker’s memoir?

Questions:

1. What role did Russell’s mother play in her son’s life? What are her values and how does she convey them to her children?

2. In what ways does Russell show that he is a different kind of person than his mother?

3. What was life like in Morrisonville? What were the pros and cons of growing up in that kind of an environment? How did the contrasts between Russell’s mother and Ida Rebecca illustrate the broader contrasts between an isolated, rural environment and an urban, more cosmopolitan one?

4. Why did Baker include a whole chapter about Oluf?  What does that chapter tell us about his mother?  About the Depression and the effect it had on unemployed men?

5. How did growing up during the Great Depression shape Russell's values and ideas about life, work, leisure, being poor, and maintaining relationships with his extended family?

6. How did life in Uncle Allen's household reflect the challenging conditions of the Great Depression? What strategies did Russell’s extended family have for “coping” with hard times?

7. How did Russell's family feel about Hoover, FDR, and government relief?

8. What kinds of entertainment are available to Russell during the Depression? Was Russell’s Depression life “depressing”?

9. Why does Russell like Uncle Harold? How is Uncle Harold different than Russell’s mother?

10. What hints does this book give us about race relations and gender roles during the 1930s? For example, what does Baltimore’s reaction to the Joe Louis fight suggest? How would Doris’s life (and her mother’s expectations for her) have been different if she had been a boy?

11. How did Russell’s upbringing leave him at something of a disadvantage when he got to college? Despite being smart, why did Russell feel dumb?

12. How did Russell’s family react to the dropping of the Atomic Bomb? Was their reaction surprising to you? How do you explain it?

13.   Was Lucy a good mother to her children? What were her strengths and limitations?