The trilogy “U.S.A.” presents the lives of countless characters living in the 20th century and trying to make their way through life. The events described in the trilogy start in the early 1900s and end at the beginning of the Great Economic Depression in 1929.
The trilogy is political in nature, describing the materialistic American society and how this has a negative influence on every person and every aspect of everyday life. The trilogy can be seen as a collection of individual stories, the major characters appearing and disappearing as the novel progresses. We can distinguish 12 major characters in the novel and some of the stories regarding a couple of the main characters are never finished, allowing the reader the option to create their own opinion about how the story ended up.
The first story is that of Charley Anderson, a man who likes in North Dakota. Charley was raised by his mother since his father abandoned his child and his wife soon after Charley was born. Charley is described as being a hardworking man and also a patriot who fought in the First World War. After the war was over, Charley returned home and stared his own business building planes.
Like many other characters in the novel, Charley develops the desire to become rich and as a result, rushes the process through which the planes he manufactured are built. As a direct consequence , one of Charley’s best friends dies while testing one of the planes. After the friend’s death, Charley falls into a downward spiral which culminates in his death.
The second story revolves on Ben Compton, a communist who managed to escape from being conscripted in the army by invoking conscience objectors. Because of his affiliation with the Communist party, Ben is beaten by the police in Seattle who perceive him as a danger to society and is also imprisoned as a result of refusing to go to war.
Ben is a man who refuses to compromise and who, no matter the circumstances and the punishment he will have to face, refuses to give up his beliefs and ideas. His righteous way of life brings him no comfort and he is eventually thrown out of the Communist Party he supported all his life.
The next story is that of Margo Dowling, a woman who also has a tragic past. Margo’s mother died when she was young and soon after her father remarried, he abandoned his new wife and his daughter. Margo’s stepmother remarries a man named Frank who abuses the young child sexually.
Margo marries and moves to Cuba but she soon abandons her husband and decides to return back to her homeland. Back in America, Margo uses her sexuality to gain money and social status and is no longer interested in anything and anyone which does not bring her profit in some way or another.
The story of Margo has the purpose of showing just how materialistic the American society was. Margo represents in a way the modern society in which nothing matters more than money and social status. Margo uses her sexuality as a weapon to gain what she wants from the men around her and this makes her a dangerous person to everyone who is not careful enough around her.
Mary French is another major character and she was born in a family in which the spouses had different ideas about life and wanted different things from life as a result. Mary grows up to be an idealist who becomes a reporter and makes a living from writing about various social movements and strikes.
Mary’s life is described as being a lonely existence, the result of her social actions and her desire to help as many people as possible. While this may seem to be something which everyone should aspire to, Mary admits at the end of her story she had never found happiness and will most likely never will because of her way of life.
Another woman who is a major character is Eveline Hutchins, a woman who made a name for herself through designing clothes. As Eveline grew older, she began to desire a serious relationship but is unable to attach herself to a man because she is always looking for something better. Eveline is unhappy because she cannot be content with what she has and she spends the rest of her life looking for happiness but never finding it.
The first major character in the story who is an immigrant is an Irish man named Fenian O'Hara McCreary. Because of his Irish heritage, Fenian had a hard life and in his adult years he joined a movement protesting for the rights of the workers and militated for a better treatment for the Irish.
Fenian gives up the prospect of a quiet married life to go and take part in a rally in another state but while there he finds the woman he was with before got pregnant. Fenian returned to the woman and married her, later having another child and living the life he vowed to never have.
Later in his life, Fenian buys a luxurious house but he has no way of paying the mortgage and the financial problems cause Fenian and his wife to get a divorce. After the divorce, Fenian moves to Mexico where he meets a new girl and starts a new life with her.
Fenian’s story is a warning to all those who may be tempted to live above their means. The reason why Fenian felt the need to do such a thing is because he was pressured by those around him and by society in general. This had tragic consequences for Fenian because he was not able to support his lifestyle and this caused problems between himself and those around him.
John Ward Moorehouse or Johnny is another major character. He is an extremely driven man who care for nothing more except money. Johnny marries two women because he wants to acquire their wealth and does everything he can to get as much money as he can from them. Johnny sacrifices everything for money and goes as far as to claim World War I is the perfect opportunity to enrich himself and to promote his business. John is another character who never finds true happiness and instead drifts from one place to another until eventually he dies from a heart attack.
