Thursday, October 11, 2012

Michael Halpin Exploration 7: "Bolshevisky"

My favorite passage in The Grapes of Wrath so far is, "Don't you go a-sassin' me. I 'member you. You're one of these here troublemakers."
"Damn right," said Tom. "I'm bolshevisky."

What Tom is referring to when he says "bolshevisky" is the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. The Bolshevik Revolution occured in 1917. Russia's economy was in a huge slump, and their government was not doing a thing about it. The citizens of Russia were not happy at all, so they formed a rebellion. The group of rebellious people called themselves the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks, at the end of 1917, ended up overthrowing the Russian government, and creating a new government of their own. Tom is saying that he is a rebel, and that he wants to stand up for his own beliefs, as opposed to following the rules that the property owner has made.

Today there are numerous rebellions happening. I know that there is civil war in Africa right now. This means that rebel soldiers are trying to overthrow the government and create a new one, just as the Bolsheviks did back in 1917. The Bolshevik revolution also makes me think of the civil war that occurred here in the United States in the 1860's. It makes me wonder what would have happened if the Rebel Confederate soldiers won the war? How would things be different today? I hold value to this thought because I know that I have the freedoms and rights that I might not have had if the rebels won the war.


This drawing expresses the Bolsheviks charging in on the Russian government to take it over. 


Works Cited:

"Russian Revolution." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. <http://www.history.com/topics/russian-revolution>.

2 comments:

  1. I agree that our civil war is similar to the Russian revolution. If the Confederates had won, the United States would certainly not be what it is today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think that its interesting to see how the outcome of war really determines the future of a nation. What would be our world if the German Nazis had dominated World War II? It is somewhat scary to think about and how that one difference may influence everything about the world.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.