Poverty In Haiti

Poverty Leads In the late 1900’s Haiti was just like many countries, struggling to stay away from poverty in their economy. The short story, “A Wall of Fire Rising” was written by Edwidge Danticat anywhere within 1950-1990. The Haitians had a president-for-life, François Duvalier who was a dictator while he ruled from 1957-1971. He appointed his son, Jean-Claude Duvalier, who ruled from 1971-1986 as an even more harsh dictator than his father. Together they put Haitians in a position where they could hardly survive; living arrangements, jobs, and basic everyday needs were not available to the people. Just like the story written by Danticat, many Haitian residents were trying to find a way out of the situation; moving, finding a better job and even committing suicide when they took on too much. Changing the type of environment could have saved people; it could have helped Haiti be a country the world deserves, but the people were consistently figuring out that poverty lead to many things: vulnerability, unhappiness, and being unhealthy (An intimate Look at Hope). When Jean-Claude Duvalier took over in 1971 Haitians continued to live in terrible conditions, while he and his family lived in luxury. “At the same time the Duvaliers have been salting away millions of dollars in foreign banks and squandering millions more, the vast majority of Haitians live in deep

“A Wall of Fire Rising” by Edwidge Danticat gave people a reason to see that not everyone’s lives were perfect, and that sometimes there isn’t a silver lining, the truth behind it all can hurt. When a ruler is meant to provide for its country, but instead lets poverty lead its country for them, they are meant to be overruled and held completely responsible. People deserve better, they deserve to have options and have a place worth living