Frank McCourt a non-fiction writer and Rebecca Harding Davis, a realist writer, both wrote about poverty. Although their works are centuries apart, their depictions are similar. Many people know that poverty exists and some may even empathize with those who struggle with poverty, but unless they have lived in poverty, one cannot know how a person or family deals with the daily challenges that living in poverty has. These two writers have written about poverty, McCourt’s personal experience through his memoir Angela’s Ashes, and Harding with her short story “Life in the Iron Mills”. Through their similarities, these two authors use imagery, figurative language, and symbolism to convey the culture of poverty.
The powerful imagery used by McCourt is descriptive leaving little to be misinterpreted. The imagery used encompasses many of our senses an example of this is shown when he writes:
From October to April the walls of Limerick glistened with the damp. Clothes never dried: Tweed and woolen coats housed living things sometimes
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sprouted mysterious vegetations. In pubs, steam rose from damp bodies and garments to be inhaled with cigarette and pipe smoke laced with stale fumes of spilled stout and whiskey and tinged with the order of piss wafting in from the outdoor jakes where many a man puked. (12) With the use of imagery, McCourt appeals to our sensory senses.
First by sight in describing “Walls of Limerick” of course, there are no walls, but the scene is now in place. Then he proceeds with touch “with the damp: clothes never dried” McCourt is slowly bringing the reader into his environment, and with these five words “the damp clothes never dried” describing the constant weather of Limerick, so the reader may envision the environment being described. Next, he uses smell “cigarette and pipe smoke laced with stale fumes of spilled stout and whiskey and tinged with the odor of piss wafting in from the outdoor jakes where many a man puked.” The readers image is now complete. Because McCourt includes extensive sensory details to his imagery the reader can see, feel, smell and some may argue taste, inevitably makes not only this scene relatable to the reader, but exemplifies the continued conditions of the characters living in
poverty. Likewise, Davis use of imagery is similar to McCourt’s. Although Davis does not use as many senses as McCourt, she does influence her readers experience with this tool. An example of this is in the second paragraph when she writes: It rolls sullenly in slow folds from great chimneys of the iron-foundries and settles down in black, slimy pools on the muddy streets. Smoke on the wharves, smoke on the dingy boats, on the yellow river, - clinging in a coating of greasy soot to the house-front, the two faded poplars, the faces of the passers-by. The long train of mules, dragging masses of pig - iron through the narrow street, have a foul vapor hanging to their reeking sides […] a dirty canary chirps desolately in a cage beside me. (1) Davis awakens the readers senses through imagery when she begins with creating a visual scene of this town ensuring that the ugliness is not missed, and mentions a bit later in the middle of the fifth paragraph “I want you to hide your disgust”(2) Davis does not want to romanticize anything. For example writing, “slimy pools” and describing the “greasy soot” in the river enables the reader to visualize this town as Davis intends. She also uses smell as she writes, “have a foul vapor hanging to their reeking sides” she added the cities smell to her description as another layer in conveying to the reader how these labors and town smelled. She does not stop here she elicits the readers hearing in describing the mules “dragging masses of pig-iron through the street.” The reader can now see, smell, and listen to the landscape of this town filled with its laborers. All this sensory detail that ultimately is sad and gloomy with no hope in sight until “A dirty canary chirps” even though the canary is dirty it still is chirping leading the reader to consciously or subconsciously think of hope. By now, the reader is invested in Davis’s story before the characters are even introduced. Similarly, to McCourt, Davis has painted a picture of the situation that most are in, and the cycle of poverty. Both Authors use figurative language to describe an abstract concept to stand for something more concrete and help the reader imagine what is being said through words. In McCourt’s example, “Walls of Limerick”, there are no walls around Limerick. This was a metaphor used by McCourt. He wants the reader to know there is nothing new coming into Limerick and not many, if any leave Limerick. Another metaphor the author uses is “Smoke laced with stale fumes” smoke cannot be laced, yet he chose to place this metaphor here to describe an odor. McCourt drives his imagery through figurative language helping to create a virtual scene enabling the reader to be present with him. In the same way, Davis uses figurative language in her short story to help the reader understand the abstract just as McCourt did in his memoir. Davis uses metaphors to describe the smoke and how it inhabits, in this example, “It rolls sullenly in slow folds”. Smoke does not roll or fold Davis uses these metaphors to describe to the reader the rate of speed that the smoke is moving in. The weight of the smoke is also being described by “slow folds” The reader can now start to imagine the scenery of this town. Davis continues with the description of the town's labor force by describing them as having “foul vapor hanging to their reeking sides”, Vapor cannot hang, yet this is how Davis uses the metaphor “hanging” to describe the abstract persistent odor of these men. Additionally, both authors use symbolism throughout their stories, and both have more than one symbol throughout their stories. The shared symbolism that each story has is the weather. McCourt describes “clothes never dried:” to indicate that Limerick is constantly enduring the rain. In Davis’ work, she states, that the smoke “rolls sullenly and “in small folds”. Later in the story, she describes the character Debra walking in the rain to take her cousin his meal. Each writer is using the weather to symbolize dark, gloomy, and uncontrollable circumstances. One cannot control the weather just as one cannot control suffering. The weather changes at its own will with no regard to the poor living outside or the poor living in homes that are not weather proofed as those of the rich are afforded. Equally important is the notion that none of us can escape the weather. Some of us are more equipped to handle the unexpected temperament of the weather, and there are some that cannot afford to protect themselves from the different weather conditions that can add to a families current struggles. This is exactly what being in poverty would be characterized as being. Struggling to eat, sleep, and work because of not being properly equipped to, due to finances. Overall two completely different stories end up being similar, yet written decades apart. The main running theme in both of these works is the continuous cycle of poverty and the conditions that those in poverty are subject to. Both authors were able to convey this fact through their individual imagery, unique metaphors and shared symbolism.
The first barrier to a better life had to do with surviving poverty or the absence of certain privileges. In Angela’s Ashes, Frank, the protagonist of the book, along with his family had to endure persistent rains, exposure to disease and starvation. Frank and Malachy Jr. had to resort to stealing food several ...
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Tis': A Memoir Frank McCourt Tis' by the Irish born author, Frank McCourt retells his life as a young immigrant making his way in New York City. He wants to succeed in the land of opportunities however, he is dashed by the reality that an Irishman who has rotten teeth, bad eyes, and no high school diploma has no real chance. He finds himself in the lowest of jobs, scrubbing the lobby of a swanky hotel. I am going to discuss the mental effect poverty has on McCourt in Tis.
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“The "discovery" of poverty at the beginning of the 1960s was something like the "discovery" of America almost five hundred years earlier. In the case of each of these exotic terrains, plenty of people were on the site before the discoverers ever arrived.”—Barbra Enrenreich. Barbra’s humor kept all readers on there toes while reading the novel, Nickel and Dimed. Although, at times, her comments were offensive or over-the-top it never took away from her arguments. She was clear in her goal and motive and was able to prove her point in writing the novel. Thanks to Barbara’s novel, she was able to raise awareness of how the poor were looked upon and treated. Through a waitress in Ohio, a maid in Maine, and a Wal-Mart employ in Minnesota Barbara gave great entertainment and great truth.
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The development of images through the use of distinctively visual language in Lawson’s ‘In a dry season’ allows the reader to connect with both the character and their environment. The first word ‘draw’ is indicative of what Lawson has anticipated for the rest of the pure sketch. ’a wire fence and a few ragged gums…Then you’ll have the bush’. This effective use of a direct imperative followed by plain but valuable concrete sensory description
The family’s poverty (which is partially due to the father’s absence) makes their future seem hopeless. The family lives in a poor, rural area, which was typical of black persons of their time. The family is crowded into a small, shabby home, so they must share rooms and beds. The family’s clothes are quite shabby too, for when James sees a mannequin in a store with new brown shoes, he looks at his own old shoes and thinks, “You wait till Summer…” The family does not even have enough money for some of life’s other necessities, such as food and medical care. For example, they eat bread and syrup every day for breakfast; and as James’ younger brother, Ty, said, “I’m getting tired of this old syrup. I want me some bacon sometime.” Beans are another bland food that J...
In today 's society, there is 1 in 7 people living in poverty which is costing Canadian citizens’ money as they are paying for taxes. There are many standpoints in which people examine the ways poverty affect society such as Marx’s conflict theory. Marx’s conflict theory goes over how social stratification being inevitable and how there is a class consciousness within people in the working class. Another way that poverty is scrutinized is by feminization. Feminization is the theory that will be explored throughout this essay. Poverty will be analyzed in this essay to determine the significance of poverty on the society and the implications that are produced.
He uses the fog outside the house as an atmospheric element that has an ominous presence throughout this play. His parents and the surroundings that he grew up in were tainted by broken dreams, lies, disease, past issues, alcoholism and drug addiction. There was this web of darkness and fogginess that encased his life and past that is portrayed in this play as well as others by O’Neill. The symbolic implications of fog in the play are descriptive of the struggle in the minds of this deeply conflicted family. The significance of fog in O’Neill’s writing can be examined in two forms. The first is what type of emblematic quality does the fog provide in this play, and the second is what are other plays in which O’Neill has used fog in a similar way.
think this creates a vivid image for the reader. He goes on to say that