A hardship that many people have to endure is poverty. The characters in the short stories, Angela’s Ashes, by Frank Mccourt and The Street, by Ann Petry, both experience living in impoverished conditions. In the story The Street, Petry shows the life of a single mother who lives through the struggles of being poor. In another story portraying poverty, Angela’s Ashes, the author uses kids to paint the image of indigence. These kids are burdened with the task of caring for themselves. It is evident that both stories share the theme of living in poverty and it is presented in the events, setting, and characters.. One way, the authors incorporate the theme of struggling to live in poverty is through events. In Angela’s Ashes, the narrator feels …show more content…
In Angela’s Ashes, the author uses the harsh winter weather to demonstrate the inconvenience of being poor and trying to survive in different conditions. “My brothers are back in bed playing games under the overcoats but they jump when they see the bread.” It seems that the only warmth that they can find is under their overcoats. Angela’s Ashes was set in the same time period as the great depression, which also negatively impacted the family. The kids focus on fires that they can see from “people 's windows and see how cozy it is in their kitchens with fires glowing,” This is the closest that they are going to get to the warmth radiating from the fires that they desperately wish to have. In The Street, Petry uses the settings to show how much the image of a certain place can affect a mother 's decision. While looking for a home, Lutie Johnson stumbles upon a street with “every scrap of paper (along the street) theater throwaways, announcements of dances and lodge meetings, the heavy waxed paper that loaves of bread had been wrapped in, the thinner waxed paper that had enclosed sandwiches…” The condition of the street represents the low standards that Lutie Johnson has to hold in order to find a home that can house her
Pathos dominates the article when Ehrenreich allows her nephews mother in law, grandchildren, and daughter to move into her house. The situation focuses on pathos because in Ehrenreich’s personal story she includes that “Peg, was, like several million other Americans, about to lose her home to foreclosure” (338). She is effective in her writing by appealing to the readers’ emotions through visual concepts and personal experiences. When I read the article, I felt emotional because the working poor are not fortunate to know if they will have a house or food the next day. I agree with Ehrenreich in which the poor are as important as the wealthy group who get more recognition.
For example, Lizabeth explains that “poverty was the cage” that everyone was “trapped” in (Collier 6). Poverty caged many during the Great Depression, still those of color had always been trapped with no possible escape. Families were forced to survive with minimal resources they could acquire and they weren’t able to live and enjoy the beauty of life. Being stuck in the cage led to the financial and mental downfall of many individuals though empathy radiates as the readers understand what it’s as to live in
For many characters, a new environment can be unfamiliar and unwelcoming. In her 1946 novel The Street, Ann Petry uses literary devices such as imagery, personification, and selection of detail to prove the hostile relationship between the elements and narrator Lutie Johnson. This environment is antagonistic in relation towards narrator Lutie Johnson, as it is intentionally stopping her and making her journey difficult. Authors use imagery to give a visual representation of the setting. As Lutie Johnson is walking down the street, the wind is against her as “It found all the first and dust and grime on the sidewalk and listed it up so the dirt got in their noses, making it difficult to breathe.
In Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt shows poverty makes people work harder than usual. Make Court uses his character to show that poverty makes you work harder in interesting scenarios. Frank McCourt recorded in his Memoir "we will all be able will all be dead for the want of bread. I put on my shoes and run" (McCourt 3).
In "To Kill a Mockingbird" Walter has to walk around barefoot and can't even afford a lunch. Walter is a Cunningham and they have been poor for generations and will be poor for generations to come. The story backs up this statement well, "They don't have much, but they get along with it. " They are referring to the Cunninghams and their poverty. In the story "A Part of the Sky" the boy has to work for his family at the age of 13 years old because they need the money.
Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” is a provocative play written in the late 1950’s with dynamic elements of race, poverty, disillusionment, and hope. Its significance and message is one that has stood the test of time and is still relevant to today’s reader. A particular element that has evoked strong feeling in me is poverty and it’s profound impact on people especially children. Growing up I lived in a single parent household that was impoverished and I saw firsthand what living in poverty can do to children. A character that is growing into this cycle of poverty is Travis Younger and in this play we see him coming to age, adapting, battling poverty, and showing resilience all at the same time.
Through the use of literary devices such as figurative language, personification, and use of details, the author of The Street displays Lutie Johnson's relationship with the urban setting as overwhelming. Within paragraphs one and two there is a large amount of detail through word choice and imagery. Lutie’s overwhelming relationship is shown through the opening scene which is overflowing with imagery. The first thing the reader will imagine is an empty street with trash blowing around everywhere and a huge scary mess that is giving the urban scenery a very intimidating feel.
In the article “How I Discovered the Truth about Poverty” Barbara Ehrenreich gives her view in poverty and explains why she think Michael Harington’s book “The Other American” gives a wrong view on poverty. She explained that Harrington believes that the poor thought and felt differently and what divides the poor was their different “culture of poverty.” Ehrenreich goes on to explain on how the book that became a best seller caused so many bad stereotypes on the poor that by the Reagan era poverty was seen as “bad attitudes” and “faulty lifestyles” and not by the lack of jobs or low paying jobs. And they also viewed the poor as “Dissolute, promiscuous, prone to addiction and crime, unable to “defer gratification,” or possibly even set an alarm clock.”
Many families suffered from economic hardships as well as emotional distress. Therefore the Braddock family overcame there challenges which are not having much to eat, not having money, and not having a place to live. To start with, one of the problems the Braddock family had was not having enough food to feed the whole family. For example, in
The Glass Castle: Controversial Topics. The Glass Castle is a 2005 book by Jeannette Walls. The memoir explains the author’s life, growing up with her family most especially with her parents who could be described as nomads and deadbeats. Notwithstanding the difficult upbringing, her siblings and she had, Jeannette perseveres and becomes a successful Journalist living in New York City.
When a child is constantly at risk and suffers from poverty their life becomes tough, but adding abuse to the situation makes it even tougher. His abuse, in particular, illustrates that danger could come in different forms, from a bus driver to a
Andy Mulligan has made a very clear and bold statement about the inequalities and injustices that exist in our world today through his novel Trash. He uses his novel to explore these issues by focusing on key themes such as Poverty/Wealth and Justice/Injustice. The theme Poverty/Wealth conveys Mulligan’s statement about the inequalities of our world by using real-world examples of poverty and prosperity situations in his novel. Additionally, by exploring justice/injustice we see that Mulligan elaborates on a distinct and definite line between fair and unfair actions and their outcomes throughout his novel Trash. Therefore, the injustices and inequalities of our world today are clearly communicated and observed through Andy Mulligan’s novel.
Shelley demonstrates poverty in two ways: social poverty and monetary poverty. Social poverty is the lack of companionship or people to relate with. Monetary poverty is shown when one lacks money or the necessities for life. In the novel, these aspects are integrated as a way to show the responsibilities and privileges
In the passage “What is poverty?”, the author Jo Goodwin Parker, describes a variety of things that she considers to portray the poverty in which she lives in. She seems to do this through her use of first-person point of view to deliver a view of poverty created by a focused use of rhetorical questions, metaphors, imagery, and repetition to fill her audience with a sense of empathy towards the poor. The author’s use of first person point of view creates the effect of knowing exactly what she is feeling. “The baby and I suffered on. I have to decide every day if I can bear to put my cracked hands into the cold water and strong soap.”
In "Angela's Ashes," the narrator and his family live in a house with no money for food. He often remarks of seeing cozy homes with fires unlike his own. The narrator is also reduced to running through the cold streets of Limerick to reach his destination. Similarly, in Ann petry's "The Street," Lutie Johnson walks along a windy street to find housing, "It found all the dirt and dust and grime on the sidewalk and lifted it up so that the dirt got into their