Bre-Anna Alexis

Dr Dinsman

English 430: Senior Seminar

April 4, 2022

Mrs. Miniver’s book is about a family which looks forward to living in the Second World War. The story sets up where Vin, the elder son of Clem, falls in love with a girl called Carol and marries her. Vin participates in the war by joining the forces pilot (Troyan). After two weeks of marriage, Carol died due to the war she thought her husband would precede. This paper critically analyzes the business as usual propaganda during the war and explicitly explores how the population was anxious despite the plain message of business as usual.

The British used propaganda during the war to lure people who were already intoxicated. For instance, a person withstanding the tragedy of the death of her wife barely two weeks after marriage was a painful thing to bear. The government openly said that it was business as usual, referring to the happenings during the war. It had become common for the tragedy that people were supposed to learn how to live with it. The government used propaganda to keep the war heated and every community or country reunited for good. This phrase “business as usual” was fundamentally used to keep the country functioning just as before and take the war as a usual business. The government thought that the war would be over shortly and even failed to interfere but instead assured the traders to continue with business as usual.

The expression was ironic and sarcastic. For instance, many single men were taken up, and there was a shortage of labor experience where women partially filled the gaps. A business owner who had their buildings closed or partially destroyed by the war could write a notice on their doorposts saying that the building is open for business as usual. It is ironic because the business was not as expected but could rather mean opened and would be closed later due to disturbance as usual. The villagers gathered in the church, where the roofing was destroyed by the fight to mourn the death of Carol, met for business as usual. The business as usual expression could mean that people were going to church as usual before the war, but it is not applicable. Previously, people could assemble in the church to worship, but now people congregated to attend burial masses during the war, and the place of worship was not the same again? In the story, Mrs. Miniver wondered how the people were intoxicated despite the phrase business as usual. There is nothing to carry on usually when there is disruption all over. People like the family of Chen and Vin could not cheer again as normal as they are encountering grief of Carol’s death.

The people in the play seem devastated and intoxicated by the war’s impact and develop different attitudes towards the government. The government could have changed its policy to accommodate changes caused by the businesses’ battle. People died in the war as they tried to follow business propaganda as usual (Troyan). When the government says life should continue as expected, citizens tend to look up to the government every time it’s bulletin. The government could not help much because it thought the war would end fast. When there is nothing left to hope for, people can neglect the fear and try to live normally, but deep inside, they are anxious about the happenings. We only live within trouble and find ways to escape the patronage or embrace it. During the Second World War, people were trapped within the war but learned to embrace the tragedy.

Reference

Troyan, Michael. A Rose for Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson. University Press of Kentucky, 2010.