The Great Depression

By Pierre Berton (Penguin, 1990)

I’m actually not going to summarize this book – the structure doesn’t lend itself to summarization easily (and if isn’t easy I won’t do it). I’m about halfway through it. Berton’s prose is light and readable and he has the knack of telling a story well. If all Berton writes is correct then one can only shake one’s head in disbelief at the incompetence of Canada’s leaders in the 1930’s – William Lyon Mackenzie King, R.B. Bennet, et al. Had Canada had reasonably competent leaders the suffering may have been mitigated somewhat. This is not to say that there would have been no suffering at all. Nor that there would have not been much suffering. But to have had as much suffering as did occur is unconscionable.

One story Berton tells is pretty sad. A couple with one son decide, after losing everything, that their only recourse is to kill themselves. They use what’s left to buy a little gas for their car, park in a school garage, connect a hose from the exhaust to the inside of the car and wait for death. Unfortunately, due to their poverty, they weren’t able to buy enough gas to do the job for the whole family. The parents survived but their young son’s cold lifeless body lay in the back seat. Distraught, the mother tells her husband to stab her to death with a butcher’s knife. In order to avoid any unnecessary pain, he tries to knock her out first with an engine crank. The carbon monoxide did just enough, though, to weaken him so that he couldn’t generate enough force. So he decides to just stab her, but he’s not strong enough to penetrate her winter coat. He tries to slice her throat but the blade misses her carotid and she ends up still alive but bleeding profusely. They use razor blades to cut their wrist but the cuts aren’t deep enough. They finally give up and wait for a slow and agonizing death. They were found in time. Later they were charged with the murder of their son.

Well, there are heartwarming stories in the book as well. I’ve also heard stories from seniors in my church about their experiences during the depression, stories of poverty but also stories of faith, compassion and God’s providential care. Berton’s story is worth reading. And the stories of those who went through those times are worth hearing.