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Effects of poverty on the individual
Effects of poverty on the individual
An essay on poverty,causes and effects of poverty
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Clash of the Classes In America, many people are divided by what we comprehend as a class system. Within our society, a multitude of people finds themselves not interacting often with those outside of their class and can rarely find similarities with people with a different financial status. In Andre Dubus’ writing “The Land of No: Love in A Class-Riven America”, he speaks about his experience with his girlfriend who comes from an affluent background opposed to his less advantaged upbringing. Dubus shows that the experiences people face from different classes can differ entirely and therefore it makes it difficult to identify with someone outside of your class. In Andre Dubus’ writing, “The Land of No: A Class-Riven America” he is showing …show more content…
Dubus also shows that he is resentful because while Emily lives lavishly he constantly compares her circumstances with the many struggles he was forced to overcome growing up. Dubus is also resentful because if the classes in America were not so far apart, it would be less difficult for him to identify with Emily. While Dubus’ mother struggled, and worked two jobs to pay rent, Emily’s parents own five homes with countless rooms and a vacation ranch. Also, while Emily’s home was garnished with fine art and was brimming with designer carpets and furniture, Dubus’ home was filled with various infestations that seemed impossible to be taken care of. Both Emily and Dubus would not be able to identify with each-others upbringing. Emily most likely could not fathom living in the conditions Dubus grew up in while Dubus was amazed by the beautiful home Emily’s family owned. Emily shows her want to identify with life outside of what she is used to. Dubus declares, “Emily didn’t have to work, but, while she was looking for an internship at a TV studio, she found a job in a bookstore. She said she was grateful for her inherited wealth but did not earn it so would not use it” (113). Although Emily directly states that she is grateful for her money, she shows us that she also resents it. Emily is …show more content…
Dubus also displays his resentful feelings during this incident toward Emily because she appears to be nonchalant about the woman’s struggles that represent the same struggles he himself identifies with. This exhibits the invisible line between the classes which makes it challenging for people on either side to identify with one another. Dubus points out how he is from the “Land of No” while she is from “The Land of Yes”. This reinforces Dubus’ resentful tone because he constantly points out that he and everyone within the same class as him, have no choice but to fight for what their necessities. By Emily being from “The Land of Yes”, she can receive what she needs whenever she wants. With more wealth, people in society have higher access to things than those with less money which can cause people in lower classes to harbor ill feelings. On another occasion, Dubus states, “maybe because of our fights over her privileged life, Emily told me she would not even consider dipping into her trust fund, though she did not make enough at the bookstore to support us both” (115). Dubus was so resentful of Emily’s wealth, he made her feel as if she should bring herself down to his level to make him feel better about their financial differences. In many cases Dubus attacks Emily for her accumulated wealth and financial status.
But I think this book is more for those people who aren’t that aware of social class, or for the ones who feel that we live in a society that is classless, rather than the actual people who have realized the consequences that class really has on someone’s life. Many people can relate to what stories are told in the book; if not, they know of a person that can relate to these stories. As a person that grew up in the lower class, I can definitely relate to most of the stories told in this book. From experience, there is a big difference in this country between the rich, middle class, and the poorest that we see daily. Even those in the so-called working class have to make continuous sacrifices and live very differently from those positioned firmly in the middle class.
Growing up in The United States, people are given this idea of an American Dream. Almost every child is raised to believe they can become and do anything they want to do, if one works hard enough. However, a majority of people believe that there is a separation of class in American society. Gregory Mantsios author of “Class in America-2009” believes that Americans do not exchange thoughts about class division, although most of people are placed in their own set cluster of wealth. Also political officials are trying to get followers by trying to try to appeal to the bulk of the population, or the middle class, in order to get more supporters. An interesting myth that Mantsios makes in his essay is how Americans don’t have equal opportunities.
In his essay “Land of Opportunity” James W. Loewen details the ignorance that most American students have towards class structure. He bemoans the fact that most textbooks completely ignore the issue of class, and when it does it is usually only mentions middle class in order to make the point that America is a “middle class country. This is particularly grievous to Loewen because he believes, “Social class is probably the single most important variable in society. From womb to tomb, it correlates with almost all other social characteristics of people that we can measure.” Loewen simply believes that social class usually determine the paths that a person will take in life. (Loewen 203)
Gregory Mantsios advocates more on the struggle to proceed from one class to another in his essay-“Class in America”. Mantsios states that, “Class standing has a significant impact on our chances for survival....
By this description, one can assume that Dubus’ mother could not afford a better living area for him and his siblings. If Dubus’ mother had more money, which ultimately would place her in a higher class, perhaps she would be able to provide a different type of home for her children. Dubus goes on to discuss about one instance where he visited one of Emily’s family homes and how different it was compared to where he was brought up. For example, “Weeks before this, she and I had spent the night at her family’s home. It was one of five they owned; her parents were away that weekend at their ranch in the southwest.
The novel “Women Without class” by Julie Bettie, is a society in which the cultural you come from and the identity that was chosen for you defines who you are. How does cultural and identity illustrate who we are or will become? Julie Bettie demonstrates how class is based on color, ethnicity, gender and sexuality. The author describes this by researching her work on high school girls at a Central Valley high school. In Bettie’s novel she reveals different cliques that are associated within the group which are Las Chicas, Skaters, Hicks, Preps, and lastly Cholas and Cholos. The author also explains how race and ethnicity correspondence on how academically well these students do. I will be arguing how Julie Bettie connects her theories of inequality and culture capital to Pierre Bourdieu, Kimberle Crenshaw, Karl Marx and Engels but also how her research explains inequality among students based on cultural capital and identity.
Allen supports her claims about hierarchies and power dynamics in her chapter “Social Class Matters.” She dives into the structures of society by examining power and social class in various contexts. In this chapter, she explains that people are categorized according to themes of class difference and struggle. Social class is associated with the relationship between power and the distribution of resources. Because this stratification system of social class is one of the biggest predictors of school achievement, social identity plays a large role in the social reproduction of inequality in the education system.
Mantsios believes that Americans do not like to talk about the different classes, whether it is about the upper, middles or lower class. He outlines four myths that are widely held about class in the United States. Myth one the united states is fundamentally a classless society, myth two we are, essentially a middle class nation. Most Americans have achieved relative affluence in what is widely recognized as a consumer society. Myth three we are all getting richer. Each generation propels itself to greater economic well-being. And myth four, everyone has an equal chance to succeed. Requires no more than hard work sacrifice and perseverance (Mantsios).
(p1) Broadly speaking, class is about economic and social inequality… (p6) We have a tendency for groups of advanced people to congregate together, and groups of disadvantaged people to congregate so that inequalities persist from generation to generation.
Because of the way she is raised, Miss Emily sees herself as "high society," and looks down upon those who she thinks of as commoners. This places her under the harsh scrutiny of the townspeople who keep her under a watchful eye. The only others who see Miss Emily as she sees herself are the Mayor Colonel Sartoris, and Judge Stevens.
The mother is doing everything she can to make Emily's life worth living. However, because the mother is trying so hard to juggle more than one job at a time she has less time with her daughter. During the Great Depression it was next to impossible to find a job. The mother would have less stress in her life if she had a strong dependable job with flexible hours so she could be with her daughter. The mother cannot care for her daughter to her full potential when all she is doing is working just to keep her daughter nourished, healthy and safe. The mother's character is living in a world where the word well-off is next to impossible to comprehend, "[she] found a job hashing at night so [she] could be with her days." (p.158). The mother wishes making money would not have to be the life she lived just to be next to her daughter. During the Great Depression this wish was impossible to fulfil. Thus leaving the mothers character in a lack of hope for a better future.
From the beginning of Emily's life she is separated from those she needed most, and the mother's guilt tears at the seams of a dress barely wrinkled. Emily was only eight months old when her father left her and her mother. He found it easier to leave than to face the responsibilities of his family's needs. Their meager lifestyle and "wants" (Olsen 601) were more than he was ready to face. The mother regrettably left the child with the woman downstairs fro her so she could work to support them both. As her mother said, "She was eight months old I had to leave her daytimes" (601). Eventually it came to a point where Emily had to go to her father's family to live a couple times so her mother could try to stabilize her life. When the child returned home the mother had to place her in nursery school while she worked. The mother didn't want to put her in that school; she hated that nursery school. "It was the only place there was. It was the only way we could be toge...
...e made between Emily and the United States of America at the time. America was essentially alienated from most nations because of refusal to join the League of Nations, which would compromise the sovereignty of America. The position of America was extremely powerful that the country could afford to lose support from various nations. In the same context, Emily was powerful in town even though she was alienated from society, it seemed as though people were intimidated by her abnormal behavior.
"Emily is exempted from the general indictment because she is a real lady-that is, eccentric, slightly crazy, obsolete, a ‘stubborn and coquettish decay,’ absurd but indulged; ‘dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse’; indeed, anything and everything but human" (Fetterley 195). In order to be a woman in the South, one must be of a certain character. Any form of decay cannot tarnish this role or character unless you wish to retreat from the consistent status presented to you. Emily was a true incarnation representing the scale that originates in classism. Her character, however, engulfed the women and led the innocence to death in life itself. This immortal figure was a constant shadow hanging over an area of confusion and tradition. A tradition, which allowed Emily to fall deeper into the abyss of retreat and unconsciousness until reality was seen as a complete dream, filled with foolishness.
Stratification across the states has created a divide between classes. It has allowed the upper class to solely remain with the upper class, while the working class only associates with the working class. It has caused people to only feel comfortable within their own class. Stratification has allowed people to see others as those to be feared or as those to be ignored. It has also created an unspoken boundary that says it is wrong to associate with another class. In the film, it was evident how the people only felt comfortable to associate with those who were like them. Even more than that, though, it revealed how it was not expected for the classes to intertwine. The system of stratification has created a vicious system that ranks people based on the amount of money they have, instead of valuing people as