Not surprising that the stage adaptation was such a hit. Caldwell's witty cast of characters allows for this unique experience of laughing until you cry and crying because you laugh. Of course we're dealing with depression-era poverty, so it shouldn't all be a jolly good time.

Once man starts falling into the abyss, there is no way to stop…Īt times laugh-out-loud, slap your knee hilarious, and at times truly heart-breaking. Without snuff and food, life seemed not worth living any longer. There was then to be no more two-thirds’ share of a year’s labor coming to Jeeter, and there was never again to be credit for food and snuff and other necessities at the stores in Fuller. The culmination had apparently been reached when Captain John sold the mules and other stock and moved to Augusta. And then man begins to exist ruled by animal instincts and physiological needs.įrom that time forward, Jeeter had sunk each year into a poverty more bitter than that of the year before. What is primary: poverty or depravity? Actually, it is a vicious circle – poverty aggravates depravity and depravity exacerbates poverty and the process continues until human being is reduced to the bestial condition. Captain John allowed Jeeter and his family to live in one of the houses, and to work for him on shares. The man who purchased the farm at the sheriff’s sale was Captain John Harmon. Two years later Jeeter found himself so heavily in debt that he did not own a single acre of land, or even a tenant house, after the claims had been settled. In order to satisfy the creditors, all the timber was cut, and another large portion of the land was sold. The first thing that happened was the foreclosure of the mortgage. When his father died, what was left of the Lester lands and debts was willed to Jeeter. Tobacco Road is one of the most effective trips to the bottom of human existence. Erskine Caldwell specialized in portraying misery and wretchedness of man and was a great expert of human distress.

Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell