Summary Of How The Other Half Lives By Jacob Riis

The book "How The Other Half Lives" written by Jacob Riis, sheds light on the living conditions in N.Y. city of the poor throughout the Progressive Era in tenement housing. Jacobs publication was meant to show the "other half" or "upper class" how bad it really was. Between 1869 and 1890, tenement housing almost tripled to 37,000 tenements in use. This over population was caused by the uproar of immigrants moving to America to start a new and better life, and almost all of the time starting at the bottom.
Starting from the bottom usually meant having very little to no personal items. Many immigrants worked low wage jobs and could only afford the least expensive shelter. The horrible conditions depicted throughout Riis novel describe

the tenements to have no ventilation, poor air quality, poor lighting, and straight up filthy. It was easy and actually some what common for these housings to be cleared out by a disease, most commonly cholera. “Large rooms were partitioned into several smaller ones, without regard to light or ventilation.”(Pg. 69) Riis believed that the land lords were to blame. "Frequently urged the filthy habits of the tenants as an excuse for the conditions of their property utterly loosing the sight of the fact that it was the tolerance of those habits which was the real evil, and that for this they themselves were alone responsible." (p.64). Tenements were steadily becoming worse, while population increased, conditions decreased. Some tenants which were build behind other tenants were called rear tenements. These so called rear tenements would have no access to light or air, and all the rooms were interior rooms so you can imagine how hot and dark it stays. These buildings were modified by the landlord to make as many rooms as possible to make the most profit, even if that meant sacrificing essential human needs.
Riis was a bit prejudice towards certain ethnic groups throughout his novel. He favored the German, Irish and English, while placing the Chinese at the bottom of this hypothetical hierarchy. Jacob was neutral with the Italians, Jews and Blacks. He describes the chinaman as "Lacking the handle of a strong faith in something, anything, however wrong to catch him by. There is nothing strong about him except is passions when aroused" (p.92).
In spite of the fact that Riis carried some unfavorable qualities, the dwellings were the greatest obstruction to accomplishing the American myth to newfound wealth. It gets to be unimaginable for one to ascend in the social structure when it can be viewed as a supernatural occurrence to live passed the age of five. Kids under the age of five years old living in dwellings had a death rate of 139.83 contrasted with the city's general passing rate of 26.67. Regardless of the fact that one did live past the age of five, it was very easy to say he'd turn into a criminal, since essentially every one of them start from the dwellings. They are compelled to take and kill and will do anything to survive. Riis properly calls it the "survival of the unfittest".