Introduction

     Tillie Olsen’s Yonnondio tells the story of a family, the Holbrook’s, and their tragic trails of trying to achieve the “American Dream.” The story takes place in the late 1920’s during the Great Depression. Reading the novel, the family resembles a lament, though it at times there are sparks of hope and well-being; unfortunately, those moments and opportunities are gone. With “no picture, poem, [and] statement” to help the family, they have no hope of “passing…to the future.” The characters of the novel are destined to forever remain in their horrible and poor situations.