Comparison and Contrast Life in Eastern Europe in the Era of Communism
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Introduction
The Land of Green Plums novel gives a detailed illustration of the lifestyle in Eastern Europe. The author, Herta Müller, is analytical and comprehensive about lifestyle and the living conditions of the people during tough political and economic times. The novel is among the best books of Herta Müller, published in 1994 (Müller, 2010). There are several characters, with four young people dominating the show. The young characters in the novel are living in times of totalitarian police state in Communist Romania. On the other hand, the narrator is a young women woman from ethnic German minority. The German minority in Romania suffer from political, economic and social abuse due to their culture and ethnicity. During the regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu, life in Eastern Europe is portrayed as due to living conditions, oppression and cultural relations. The report in this case entails a close examination and comparison of lifestyle in Eastern Europe during communism rule and the current lifestyle based on today settings. The essay is analytical and pays attention to social, political, economic and religious living conditions. The goal is to draw comparison and point out the differences and common features during the two distinct times.
Everyday life during communism in Eastern Europe entailed daily activities and experiences such as economic duties and looking for foods. The daily and weekly activities can be said to have been difficult for most of the individuals. The locals were poor people who spent most of the time looking for foods and other consumer goods in the market. the regulations in the country were tough with little freedom of movement and speech. There was limited access of consumer items such as intertreatment events and joints, weekend activities and televisions. Still, there were limited access to electronics and fashionable items such as clothes. In the poorer communities, most of the times, the core activities entailed search and long queues for basic services and commodities (Drace, 2013). The individuals would struggle to access food, water and other necessities due to tough economic times and conditions. The adults and the young children all had distinct duties during the communism. For instance, it was the duty of the adults to take care of the families and the feed the children. The access of schools and basic commodities was also limited.
The family and market condition are a symbolism of the factors which shaped the poor and tough economic life. There is also an indication of the biased attitudes, the class structure, restrictive laws, and segregation. The attitude was mainly based on the assumption that villagers were inferior in nature. Still, villagers were poorly treated in terms of freedom and personal expression. The class structure placed them on the lowest level in the community rank. The laws in the country were also restrictive and most of the slaves had not families. In the village, they lived in the plantations with little movement and high levels of control (Haines, & Marven, 2013). They worked as farm laborers as well as domestic workers alongside the skilled employees in locality. The villagers mainly worked in the farms as well as in construction places in the towns. They were not given much freedom of interaction with the females in the residential areas. Locals commodities fetched higher prices in the market compared to the females. On the other hand, the females worked as domestic workers in the houses as well as taking care of the family chores. They had more freedom then male counterparts.
The rulers passed laws which regulated the activities of the local on matters of social life, land ownership, marriage as well as freedom of the individuals. The structure of governance passes laws such as “restrictions locals” which limited the freedom of the villagers. There was also the law on land ownership and property ownership which regulated the control of the resources. The locals indicate the poor conditions that could not own land and lived in small areas, hence making them inferior due to economic deprivation (Drace, 2013). Others laws include the limited freedom of movement, interaction, and intermarriages which limited their activities in the region which is shown in the market. It is hence vital to ensure effective working to change the conditions. The book is hence a good case study of the initial live of the villagers.
However, there is sharp contrast when compared to the modern life and the living conditions among the individuals. The differences are seen in the political, social and economic activities. Currently, there is an advanced democratic rule and structure of governance. There are sharing of duties at family level and better relations among the individuals. The duties and activities of the individuals are less restricted compared to the past (Terry, 2018). For instance, there are health family activities such as sharing of the family duties and activities. The young children and people tend to spend a lot of time in schools learning. Education is a vital segment of the daily activities among the children and youths in the current times.
There is also no class structure of categories of the social classes based on political affiliations. Most of the people in the community have freed of communication and speech unlike in the past. There is also the structure of law and the social media which is vital in shaping the current lifestyle (Bobrova et al, 2018). The laws in the country are very much accommodative and not restrictive. In the rural places and the village, the people live in the owned lands and compounds with freedom of economic and personal movement and with little or no controls. The people work in different places such as factories, companies and other places such as farm. There is also vibrant city and urban life which is growing very fast (Omelchenko, & Sabirova, 2016). The urban dwellers mainly work in the firms as well as in manufacturing places in the cities and towns. They are given a lot freedom of interaction with the females in the residential areas. There are also duties for the males and females in the cities. The females work almost in all places ad also take care of the family chores. They seem to have slightly less freedom than the male counterparts.
Conclusion
Life during the communism era is seems to have been difficult due to tough economic, social and political restrictions. On the other hand, life during the current times is more developed due to freedom and economic growth. There is also the impact of technology hence access of platforms such as internet which was limited during the past times. The duties of the males and females seems to have largely changed as seen above. Life in the current times is hence far much better compared to past times.
References
Bobrova, N., Cook, S., Malyutina, S., Kudryavstev, A. V., Denisova, D., & Leon, D. (2018). Gender differences in selected life-style and behaviours in Russia, 2015-2017. European Journal of Public Health, 28(suppl_4), cky214-052.
Drace-Francis, A. (2013). Beyond the Land of Green Plums: Romanian Culture and Language in Herta Müller’s Work. Herta Müller, 32-48.
Haines, B., & Marven, L. (Eds.). (2013). Herta Müller. Oxford University Press.
Müller, H. (2010). The Land of Green Plums: A Novel. Macmillan.
Omelchenko, E., & Sabirova, G. (2016). Youth cultures in contemporary Russia: memory, politics, solidarities. In Eastern European Youth Cultures in a global context (pp. 253-270). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Terry, J. L. (2018). ” Russian world”: Russia’s cultural diplomacy programs in Europe (Doctoral dissertation).