The Struggles of Keeping the Family in “The Cinderella Man”

“The Cinderella Man,” a motion picture, focuses on the journey full of struggles of a common man hero, James Braddock, and how he eventually achieves a win that uplifts his family during The Great Depression. Within the plot, the major characters include James Braddock, his wife Mae Braddock, Joe Gould, who is Braddock’s boxing coach, and Max Baer, the ultimate boxing champion. Braddock’s main challenge throughout the film is keeping his family and himself afloat to prevent living on the streets, hungry and sick.

The situation in America escalated rapidly due to the Great Depression, making Braddock’s efforts of finding work increasingly difficult. Five years before the Depression, Braddock became a contender for a boxing championship. However, five years later, he is broke and injured, desperately trying to get work at the dock every day. As time goes by, Braddock’s streak of bad luck only increases; his income wasn’t covering the bills and his children were starving and sick. The stressful situation eventually led him to go to Public Relief. Slowly, his luck started returning, earning him a small chance back into the ring. With time, Braddock found himself facing off against the heavyweight champion of the world, Max Baer. Subsequently, Braddock shocked the world by winning the match against Baer and lifted his family back to normality, something uncommon during the Great Depression.

The primary effect of the Great Depression was the struggle for jobs. Most businesses shut down due to the depression and banks went bankrupt because of all the withdrawals. Every day, numerous men waited outside, begging to be hired for the day so they could feed their families. The unemployment rate increased to 25% during the Great Depression, leading to citizens being evicted from their homes and becoming homeless; this group of people created a shabby community called Hoovervilles, named after President Hoover, who believed it wasn’t the government’s place to get involved.

Moreover, due to limited jobs, families had to split apart to ensure survival. For example, a father might have to leave his family to find work elsewhere to be able to provide for his family. However, when Franklin D. Roosevelt came into office, things changed. He immediately went to work, creating and passing the New Deal, which significantly expanded the federal government’s role in the national economy. The Great Depression could easily be related to James Braddock and how his life was shaped during these tough times. It had gone from bad to worse, to a slow pace of hope and success.

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