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Poverty and its effects on society
How poverty affects people's life
An essay on poverty,causes and effects of poverty
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Poverty, a state of being extremely poor, is a recurring theme throughout the movie Beasts of the Southern Wild; furthermore, giving the audience the insight of the ongoing issue that those living in the remote Delta community, The Bathtub, face quite often. The movie portrays poverty as a way of life, and those that live in The Bathtub have adapted to the circumstances of the community while failing to improve their living conditions. When the citizens of The Bathtub have limited resources, living an impoverished lifestyle is not a choice; therefore, it is an adaptation to survive and those living in The Bathtub have limited resources for opportunities for a better life, education, and health care. The Bathtub, a southern
Poverty in The Bathtub was not noticeable because it was a way of life. In the movie every scene had noticeably impoverished living conditions from Wink and Hushpuppies houses to the bar and school-house; however, when it is all that you know; it does not seem like poverty but instead it is a great living. Hushpuppy’s world began with odds piled against her, including a nonexistent mother figure, an alcoholic father, and limited opportunities for growth and development. Hushpuppy yearns for her mother’s love in the movie, and when she is alone in her house Hushpuppy expresses her feelings for her mother. Wink, Hushpuppy’s father, struggles with his health and upbringing of Hushpuppy and drowns his problems in alcohol; therefore, pushing Wink’s priorities away from his child to his addiction and causing more problems for Hushpuppy. Hushpuppy’s early childhood struggles can negatively impact her decision-making through adulthood, and while her transitions from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to adulthood The Bathtub community will play a major role in her development because of the tight-knit community (Snell
325). Wink faced an unknown medical issue in the film, and his problems were usually handled with alcohol or remedies from Mrs. Bathsheba; therefore, leading the audience to wonder if he had adequate medical attention would he be in his condition. As the movie continues and the government enforces a mandatory evacuation of The Bathtub, Wink faces a huge dilemma as Hushpuppy witnesses her dad lash out at the doctors while they are quarantined at this government facility. Hushpuppy soon witnesses her father slip away into a state he never wanted to be in; therefore, leading the young independent girl into a whirlpool of thoughts and emotions and causing the whole group of citizens from The Bathtub to take a chance to get back home. Wink did not want to be plugged in the wall in his final days, so the others from The Bathtub took him home to his final resting place; however, the adverse reaction to the health care provided to Wink, suggests to the audience that he was not receptive to the help or it was too late to recover. According to James Kirby’s study community characteristics influence access to health care and with the citizens of The Bathtub their access to health care was limited due to their lifestyle choices. When the
The children in this book at times seem wise beyond their years. They are exposed to difficult issues that force them to grow up very quickly. Almost all of the struggles that the children face stem from the root problem of intense poverty. In Mott Haven, the typical family yearly income is about $10,000, "trying to sustain" is how the mothers generally express their situation. Kozol reports "All are very poor; statistics tell us that they are the poorest children in New York." (Kozol 4). The symptoms of the kind of poverty described are apparent in elevated crime rates, the absence of health care and the lack of funding for education.
Many people at one time or another will face some-sort of economic hardship; however it is safe to say that many people do not really know what extreme poverty is like. The Treviño family knows first hand what it is like to work in tedious, mind-numbing jobs for a very little paycheck. The life of a migrant worker is not anything to be desired. Simple things that most would take for granted like food variety, baths, clean clothes, and beds are things that Elva learned to live with. “We couldn’t have a bath every day, since it was such a big production. But [mom] made us wash our feet every night” (125). A simple task to any normal person is a large production for a migrant family that doesn’t have any indoor plumbing. People living in poverty do not often have a large wardrobe to speak of which means that the few clothes they own often remain dirty because washing clothes is a production too. “Ama scrubbed clothes on the washboard while the rest of us bathed. She took a bath last while the rest of us rinsed and hung up the clothes she had washed. This was the only oppor...
Poverty is referred to as the inability to provide for basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, medical, etc. Walls (2005) stated that at times they would go days without eating and would keep their hunger to themselves, but always thought of ways to get their hands on some food. She further stated that “At lunchtime, when other kids unwrapped their sandwiches or brought their hot meals, Brian and I would get out a book and read. I told people that I had forgotten my lunch but no one believed me, so I started hiding in the bathroom stall during lunch hour. When other girls came in and threw away their lunch bags in the garbage pail, I’d retrieve them and return to the stall and polish off my tasty finds ” The major thesis addressed by the author, detailed the struggles she faced.
The notion of poverty has a very expanded meaning. Although all three stories use poverty as their theme, each interprets it differently. Consequently, it does not necessarily mean the state of extreme misery that has been described in ?Everyday Use?. As Carver points out, poverty may refer to poverty of one?s mind, which is caused primarily by the lack of education and stereotyped personality. Finally, poverty may reflect the hopelessness of one?s mind. Realizing that no bright future awaits them, Harlem kids find no sense in their lives. Unfortunately, the satisfaction of realizing their full potential does not derive from achieving standards that are unachievable by others. Instead, it arises uniquely from denigrating others, as the only way to be higher than someone is to put this person lower than you.
is a hard, dangerous, and filthy place where it is difficult to find a job. Some relatives of the couple and themselves get a house, but find out it is a swindle.
“In twentieth-century America the history of poverty begins with most working people living on the edge of destitution, periodically short of food, fuel, clothing, and shelter” (Poverty in 20th Century America). Poverty possesses the ability to completely degrade a person, as well as a family, but it can also make that person and family stronger. In The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, a family of immigrants has to live in severe poverty in Packingtown, a suburb of Chicago. The poverty degrades the family numerous times, and even brings them close to death. Originally the family has each other to fall back on, but eventually members of the family must face numerous struggles on their own, including “hoboing it” and becoming a prostitute. The Jungle, a naturalistic novel by Upton Sinclair, reveals the detrimental effects that a life of poverty exerts on the familial relationships of immigrants in Chicago during the early 1900’s.
Hushpuppy rescued the people of the Bathtub (the place where Hushpuppy resides) and her father alike Chihiro who saved her parents from getting trapped in the spirit world. These girls were aided from their mentors, Wink (Hushpuppy's father), and Haku the wise river god, helped Chihiro. These young ladies learned how to handle things on their own from the assistance of their mentors. Haku: "You did it, Chihiro! I remember! I was the spirit of the Kahaku River." (Spirited Away). Chihiro in this case took matters into her own hands, and was capable of liberating herself and Haku from the spirit world by remembering Haku's original identity before it was taken away from him. Hushpuppy also acquired the similar skill that Chihiro possesses, and that is taking leadership and dealing with certain situations without
According to the Qwhatis.com called What is culture? “Culture is a way of life at a particular time, it includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities, and habits acquired by man or woman as a member of society. Culture is defined as a social domain that emphasizes the practices, discussions and material expressions. Which over time express the continuities and discontinuities of social meaning of a life held in common.” In her essay “On the Meaning of Plumbing and Poverty,” Melanie Scheller examines the cultural identity of the rural poor. The author bring the reader’s attention to explore and nominate the problem of poverty in America while using facts and personal background. While caring for a woman in a psychiatric ward, Scheller witnesses the woman’s obsession for flushing the toilets in her unit. This
However, she never really experienced the actual life of living in poverty as the majority of people living in poverty experience. Barbara, an educated white women had just that on other people living in poverty, because of the color of her skin and education level that is more often than not restricted from people living in poverty. She was able and more qualified for jobs than other people living amongst the status she was playing. She also was able to more readily seek better benefits than people living in poverty. When she first start her journey in Florida she had a car, a car that in most cases people living in poverty do not have. She was also able to use the internet to find local jobs and available housing in the area that many people living in poverty are restricted from. Another great benefit she had was the luxury of affording a drug detox cleansing her of drugs deemed bad. Many people living in poverty do not have much extra cash laying around much less fifty dollars to afford a detox for prescription drugs. She also had the luxury to afford her prescription drugs, another option that many people living in poverty do not have. Another element that made Barbara’s experience not that genuine was the fact that she was not providing for anybody other than herself. Twenty-two percent of kids under the age of 18 are living below the poverty line (http://npc.umich.edu/poverty/#5) , Barbara did not have to provide for pets or kids which would of changed her experience altogether of living in poverty. Not to belittle Barbara’s experience, but many factors of what life is like living in poverty were not taken into consideration during her
Another example of their poverty is when the family goes to the slumps to pick up a plow that Mr. Slump had borrowed. The author explains that the Slumps just left their tools where they unhitched but, the little girl’s family had a shed where they put the machinery when it was not being used. Obviously the Slumps are not as openhanded as the little girl’s family, and are being treated as inferior because of this.
society poverty has various definitions that lack the true picture that poverty depicts. Dictionary defines poverty as “the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money on material possessions.” In other words poverty is a situation where a person fail to earn a sufficient amount of income to purchase basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothes etc. In reality, poverty is much more than the capital resources. According to Laster Brown explained poverty as “the world without orders’ and further emphasized that “unfortunately it is a human condition. It is despair, grief and pain.” However, the issue of poverty and how we deal with it could differ among people. This idea is reflected in Peter Singer’s “Famine, Affluence and Morality” essay and the opposing essay written by John Arthur in “World hunger and moral obligation: the case against Singer.” Peter Singer raises the question of poverty and our obligations toward it in his essay “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”. In the essay, Singer addresses the question of what obligations we have toward those ar...
Over the last 10 years or so, the way of looking at the concepts like poverty and social exclusion has changed by a million miles. More and more people are drawn towards the idea of thinking about such things in a more detailed manner so as to gain a deeper understanding of it. For that is the only way, we can actually move towards truly dealing with them, instead of being the bird that puts its most sincere efforts in trying to catch the horizon which always moves away from it. The reason behind this shift in people’s mentalities is the broad acknowledgment that poverty is about more than just low incomes. What lies at the heart of how most people understand ‘poverty’ are their observations of instances of lower than reasonably required consumption and inadequate living standards. Aspects of poor health, a shortened lifespan, limited access to education, knowledge and information, and powerlessness in various domains are also associations that this term has conjured up.
Many of us view poverty as mainly a third world issue, because it tends to have little effect on the majority of individuals on a recurring basis. Yet, it is a difficult situation prevalent in all types of civilization, despite the overall advances in technology, medicine and education that one country may have over the other. Poverty does not necessarily have to affect a specific individual, but as a country, it affects all levels of production; even when the production of a single country begins to falter, it could potentially have major effects on others, creating a continuous cycle.“Poverty is color blind”, it does not discriminate, and is a societal problem that needs to be dealt with today (Fullerton, par. 3). If not helped or solved,
How can there be so much misery and insecurity in the midst of such abundance? One of the first things we see is that poverty doesn’t exist all by itself. It is simply one end of an overall distribution of income and wealth in society as a whole. Poverty is both a structural aspect of the system and consequence of how the system is organized and how people participate in it.
The society that humans exist in faces social problems everyday. Social problems can be unique to one society, or they can be universal. Poverty is a universal problem that is felt, and seen in every society, although what is seen as poverty in one society may not be seen as poverty in another society. You live in poverty when you are poor. Poverty can become a deadly trap to those affected, and leaves them unable to escape.