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Poverty in poor countries
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Poverty in poor countries
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In 1947, The Pearl was published by John Steinbeck. This book is about immigration, poverty, and wealth. In this book Kino, Juana and Coyotito live in La Paz, Baja California Sur. This family is in deep poverty. During the middle of a peaceful sleep, their son get stung by a scorpion. They go to a doctor, but the doctor doesn't treat them because of their religion, race, and class. This really does not help the family. The husband works for money and is a pearl diver. If he doesn't find a good pearl for money, something will happen to them that will change their lives forever. This book includes themes about the Struggle to survive, greed, racism, and racial and class prejudice. The story and real life are much the same. In Mexico, their poverty problems are pretty terrible. Children who are 14 and under are working for their families every day. Some, or most only work for a dollar a day. If you really put this to mind, think how many dollars you spend a day! Maybe if you go on a fancy vacation to western Europe, that's most likely to cost a few thousand, and that's just for enjoyment. We are spending what they make in a year almost every two days. These people save their money for food and an education. Sometimes the go two to three days without a meal. When they get meals they usually are small. They also have to save money to …show more content…
They don't have a bed, nor do they have a kitchen. They only have a roof over their head. Kino and Juana sleep in the cold ground with only a blanket, and Coyotito sleeps in a hanging box with only a blanket also. The family is in poverty. The best thing he owns is his canoe. It supports his family because he can go out on the water and get fish for food. This connects to people and living conditions in Mexico. In some places in Mexico, there are people sleeping on rocks, dirt, and sometimes mud. If the family is lucky each member is equipped with a blanket. It is a real
The lack of a safe home environment, one of the obstacles Panchito faces. When they lived in Fresno, he and his family lived in an old garage, separate from the large main house of their employer. The windowless walls strained “to support the roof full of holes”(Jiminéz 58). In addition, Roberto, Panchito, and their father “sle[pt] outside under the trees” (58). Because of the lack of any plumbing or furniture, they took showers underneath a waterhose and they “[ate] dinner around some wooden crates,”(59). The absence of a proper home environment also speaks for his family’s financial situation. If they cannot afford a home, one could wonder how they can properly support their children. Their severe economic status could also explain their children’s lack of an education.
Enrique and many other Central American kids have a hard life. They come to America where they think their mothers will magically solve their problems because their mothers are supposed to be perfect. Enrique and others realize this isn’t true and goes on to accept it. Migrants resent their mothers a little bit, but come to start loving them as the migrants did before their mothers left. Migrants also learn about life lessons on the trains. Migrants learn that people should not be trusted, but not all people are bad. The migrants just have to learn which people are bad and which aren’t. Migrants also learned that you shouldn’t have high expectations of everything and also that you shouldn’t put your problems on one person and expect them to go away. You have to figure life out on your own.
The excitement the family had when they received the call about the dead cows, also shows their poverty. Their scavenging and meek options presented how they were in need of money and food. In my family, I am lucky enough to be able to buy clothes and food from stores. Along with necessities, I am able to receive luxuries such as eating out and going on vacation. Even though I grew up with money doesn’t mean my family has no budget, my family has the same ideals to eat what you get and not to waste food. But their family waste isn’t an option for food as it becomes part of a bread pudding when they have leftovers. (Blow, 2014,
The Pearl- "Novels 1942–1952." John Steinbeck: : Note on the Texts (The Library of America). N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
Another element that is crucial to understand the photo of the Cabañas family is focal point. The amount of food that is presented for one week might not look like it’s enough to feed eight individuals, five of them being grown adults, for that period of time. Some of the other pictures presented throughout the “Hungry Planet”, has just as much if not more food than the Cabañas family, but is only having to feed 4-5 people. This does not mean that their family is doing something wrong, but it is evident that the economy and opportunity throughout the world is diverse one from another, and that each family is only striving to simply support their family in each unique way they find fit. D’aluisio says, “Inside the Cabañas’ home, although a giant
Poverty, a state of being extremely poor, is a recurring theme throughout the movie Beasts of the Southern Wild. Furthermore, it gives 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.
John Steinbeck’s novella, The Pearl, is written as a parable, which allows the reader to interpret its themes in their own way. It can take place in any time period, with any setting, and using any protagonist. The themes Steinbeck used throughout his book are universal and can applied to anyone’s lives. Its contrasting portrayal of good and evil creates a clear understanding of themes such as greed, illusions, and humanity and reason versus animalism and instinct.
In the story The Pearl, a man and his family who were extremely poor are barely
One obvious family detachment was the death of the narrator’s Aunt Jacinta, which is what starts the stride of bad luck for this family. While they are trying to bury her the flooding begins. Along with the lost of Aunt Jacinta, the narrator also loses his two older sisters. The father’s role in this is very crucial and he feels guilty for not being able to support his family to the point where the daughters would choose prostitution and move to a different city. In a traditional Mexican family, the bread winner tends to be the father.
I believe that this story goes on to show how Ruben is set up to be the successful member of the family, the one to break the cycle of poverty! He is expected to become the future provider for the family based on how the story ends. To show the connections between this story and my theory, I will be diving into an academic journal titled, “The Effects of Poverty on Lifelong Learning: Important Lessons for Educators” written by Patricia Boatwright and Lisa Midcalf. In their document, they speak of certain factors that can affect learning in the young, and what educators may be able to do to help students succeed. In this journal they mention the probable causes of learning disadvantages with students living in
John Steinbeck's The Pearl tells the story of a pearl diver named Kino. Kino lives a simple life, and adores his family. At the beginning of the story Steinbeck shows how content Kino’s family is. Everything seems to be going perfect for Kino and his family that is until the discovery of the most wonderful pearl in the world changes his life forever. As the story advances Kino’s newborn, Coyotito gets bitten by a scorpion. Kino’s wife, Juana insists that they take Coyotito to the town’s doctor. Inevitably the doctor refuses to help Coyotito because Kino is unable to make a payment.
A major theme displayed in Steinbeck’s novel is the difference between the standard of living for Mexicans and that for Europeans. The Mexican people of La Paz are very poor, most of them living in brush houses that contained only one room (Ariki). In Kino’s hut, the single room is used as the kitchen, the bedroom, and Coyotito’s nursery (Johnson 181). Their poverty is further displayed by the dirt floor covered with ants and other insects (Johnson). “He slipped his feet into his sandals and went outside to watch the dawn” describes his morning routine (Steinbeck 3). Kino’s daily breakfast consisted of corncakes and pulque, which is an alcoholic drink (Johnson 182). Since the Mexicans can’t afford utensils, they have to use their hands to eat their food. This is ironic because the Mexicans were the ones who worked the hardest for their living (Johnson 181). Around midday, Kino and the others would go to the sea in their canoes and dive for pearls. Since this was their family’s only source of income, t...
In conclusion this novel has taken a poor greedy man and has put him through hell. First his son was bitten buy a scorpion and the man is determined to save his baby by finding a great pearl to sell and get money to pay the doctor to save his son. The man has murdered and decides to escape his town with his family. Some trackers, who the man bravely kills, followed the man and his family in the woods. After the battle his sick son, who was the reason he got in the whole mess with the pearl and murdering, died. Overall, The Pearl was filled with action, love, enemies, and family
The Pearl by John Steinbeck is a classic novella. Steinbeck is a classic author that also wrote The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men. “This long story (or short novel) follows five momentous days in the life of an Indian pearl diver living in La Paz, a small port on the Gulf of California,” (Gunn 1) . Kino is the pearl diver, and his son, Coyotito, gets stung by a scorpion, but the doctor will not see him because of race and status. That is until Kino goes pearl diving and finds a pearl the size of a gull’s egg. After that everything changes for Kino, his family, and the whole village. This novella is set up a lot like a parable in which it is an earthly story with an heavenly meaning. This story has many symbols that point to the overlying
John Steinbeck's The Pearl tells the story of Kino, a poor pearl diver who lives in Mexico with his wife, Juana and his baby boy, Coyotito. One day Kino finds a huge pearl worth a great deal of money. Kino dreams of being rich and buying all that he wants after he sells the pearl. The one thing that Kino doesn't realize is that there are many people who will do anything to steal the pearl from him. No one ever suspects the pearl's power todeceive, corrupt, and destroy. Hence, The Pearl depicts the ultimate battle between good and evil.