The RESILIENCE AND HARDSHIP: FARMERS IN ERSKINE CALDWELL’S TOBACCO ROAD

Abstract

This article explores the depiction of farmers in Erskine Caldwell’s “Tobacco Road", emphasizing their financial struggles, resistance to change, and the impact of industrialization. Unlike idealized portrayals of rural life, Caldwell presents a stark and often unsettling perspective on tenant farming. The novel highlights how economic hardships and the Great Depression deepened poverty in agricultural communities. Key themes such as generational conflict, adaptation challenges, and social neglect provide insight into the novel’s broader critique of rural hardship.