Duck Soup's Representation Of America During The Great Depression

Duck Soup was a movie that came out on November 17, 1933. This was approximately three years into the American Great Depression, with a broken economy and unemployment rate at its highest of 25 percent. This was a time when America was at its all-time low. Duck Soup is a movie made as a direct representation of America during the Great Depression. The writers purposely made it a comedy because the audience would get the joke. In Duck Soup, Rufus T. Firefly becomes the president of the country Freedonia, under him the country’s government become useless and nothing gets done as he lives luxuriously. This represents president Hoover and his ineffective government system to bring help to so many Americans in a time of need during the Great Depression. …show more content…
In desperation, the country get help from a wealthy widow Mrs. Teasdale. She offers to give a sum of $20 million but only if Rufus T. Firefly is appointed as the new president. Firefly becomes the new president and in his welcoming reception he sings out that he will fix the country problems. This is not the case though as he fails to do his job of running the country. The correlation of Duck Soup and America at the time is obvious. Herbert Hoover is elected president in 1928 after promising the country prosperity and to keeps its peace. In 1929, the America stock market crash leading to banks and businesses failing, beginning the start of the Great Depression. Millions of Americans lose their jobs. Then, all their saving in the bank and eventually become homeless. Hungry and homeless, the America people turn to president Hoover and the government, but they are no