Analysis Of William T. Vollmann's Poor People

1056 Words3 Pages

In the novel Poor People, written by William T. Vollmann asks random individuals if they believe they are poor and why some people are poor and others rich. With the help of native guides and translators, and in some cases their family members, they describe what they feel. He depicts people residing in poverty with individual interviews from all over earth. Vollmann’s story narrates their own individual lives, the situations that surround them, and their personal responses to his questions. The responses to his questions range from religious beliefs that the individual who is poor is paying for their past sins from a previous life and to the rational answer that they cannot work. The way these individuals live their life while being in poverty …show more content…

The fisherman states, “I am not rich or poor, but I am happy” (29). The fisherman believes that Allah determines if someone is rich or poor. This man brings in only enough money just to keep himself from not being hungry and his boat running, and is okay with every aspect of his life. Even though the poor might are tight on funds, they have their own meaning of what it is to be rich. Vollmann encounters a prostitute named Angelica in Mexicali and asks why some people poor are and why some people are rich, she states “that there is no such thing as being rich or poor, are just humans” (Vollmann 43). She also points out that to see yourself as rich you must have a precise goal. Angelica does not believe that she is poor because she is able to work and make money. She also brings up that individuals should spend their money on beneficial things and not on things they truly do not need or require. Vollmann’s encounters an elderly Japanese man at a camp who responds that his description of poverty was not because religion or predestined life, but instead the absence of his capability to work because of old age. Concurring to Vollmann, concludes for the reason that he is a bystander, he relates to their everyday life to his personal, as well as the city he lives …show more content…

He meets Natalia who is a middle aged epileptic who expresses to him a story of anguish that starts in her childhood, when she was hurt by a poisonous tick, and then takes its descending turn after a wicked gypsy woman traps and possibly even kills her husband. Natalia exclaims that it is her epilepsy that is causing her to poor. Her children are no longer with her and were taken from her, or have possibly died, and or have been deserted. Natalia has trouble realizing what her illness is and is not capable to effectively clarify her illness to others. The meaning of poor as well as in other situations in life is because of the absence of guidance. Individuals should be able to recognize their own surroundings, and be capable to change their lifestyle on what will make them happy. Some people consider themselves rich even though they do not have much, and other poor when they have everything. People for the most part live life beyond their needs. It is unfortunate how people will get depressed for the smallest reasons, and others who are more financially restricted wish they could have their problems instead of their

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of David K. Shipler's At The Edge Of Poverty

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    David K. Shipler in his essay At the Edge of Poverty talks about the forgotten America. He tries to make the readers feel how hard is to live at the edge of poverty in America. Shipler states “Poverty, then, does not lend itself to easy definition” (252). He lays emphasis on the fact that there is no single universal definition of poverty. In fact poverty is a widespread concept with different dimensions; every person, country or culture has its own definition for poverty and its own definition of a comfortable life.

    Read More

  • Summary: The Diary Of Carolina Maria De Jesus

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poverty is a difficult and horrible way to grow up in life. It causes people to become stressed, and terrified of the world. It also demonstrates the ugly side of the world. When you ae in poverty. It causes people to become desperate and do horrendous things like murder, rape, and prostitution. But poverty can also produce strong, determined, and hopeful humans. In Child of the Dark: The Diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus by Carolina Maria de Jesus, we see the ambitious mother of three living the daily struggle of living in the poor favelas in Brazil. She provides the best life she can to her kids, while also perusing her dream of becoming a writer. In Testimony: Death of a Guatemala City by Victor Montejo, the readers follow the inspirational

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Working Poor By David Shipler

    1565 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the Working Poor, David Shipler shows the different levels of poverty in the United States. Although many people work every day they still do not have enough money to live their lives comfortably or contently. In chapter 1, Money and Its Opposite, discuss the different people that worked hard their entire lives only to remain in or below the poverty line. For instance, in the book Shipler speaks of the disadvantages that the working poor are susceptible to. Often being taken advantage of from employers that do not give accesses that they are entitled to, the working poor are more likely to be audit than the wealthy, and become victims of cons that point toward money for a small payment, first. The many that live in poverty often overspend.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Working Poor By David K. Shipler

    881 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Working Poor: Invisible in America, David K. Shipler describes about the lives of United States citizens who live within poverty. He highlights the U.S.’s disregard for its working poor, the nature of poverty, and the causes of poverty faced by low-wage earners. Shipler performs an amazing job with describing the factors that play their parts into the lives of U.S. citizens who live are poor and within poverty.

    Read More

  • The American Dream In Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout Ehrenreich 's journey, she becomes increasingly aware of the reality of her situation as a member of the working poor. She realizes that “the 'working poor, '... are in fact the major philanthropists of our society”(Ehrenreich 221). Despite having far less wealth than the average American, low income workers sacrifice their time and health to accept wages that are often fiscally unviable. The working poor must slave away at “jobs that… [are] physically demanding, some of them evan damaging (pg.195)” to benefit the financially adept, who give nothing in return. This process of giving and not receiving is exhibited when Ehrenreich attempts to find aid from welfare programs, but is disappointed when she can only qualify to receive less than a week 's worth of groceries. “There are no secret economies that nourish the poor”(Ehrenreich 27) and as a result individuals within this group are left on their own to support themselves and their families with mediocre wages. In addition to having little to no assistance when it comes to nourishment, the poor must also pay for additional costs that financially capable people do not have. An example of these additional costs can be seen when Ehrenreich must constantly pay for fast food because she has no source of refrigeration and also, when she must buy expensive medicine

    Read More

  • Summary Of Theodore Dalrymple's 'What Is Poverty'

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    No matter the walk you take in life at the end of the day are you rich with love, respect and honor. Or, are you poverty stricken simply because you choose not to allow love, respect and honor to shine through. Not only on yourself but, also on those around you. In life a hard lesson needs to be learned and we can only learn this for ourselves, be rich because of who you are and not what you have because in the end people will not remember the house you had, the material possessions you bought or gifts that you gave, what they will remember is if you held your head high, even through the rough times, the respect you gave and most importantly, the love you

    Read More

  • Metamorphosis Essay

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...urther thinks, “people’s troubled relationship represents the effect of capitalism brought by industrialization in the town. I believe people care more about improving their financial status without caring about its effects on other people. For example, my father does not care about what I am going through provided he made money for the family”. Samsa finally supposes that his father’s hostility towards him show lack of appreciation for his money.

    Read More

  • The Working Poor: Invisible in America by David K. Shipler

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Working Poor: Invisible in America, David K. Shipler tells the story of a handful of people he has interviewed and followed through their struggles with poverty over the course of six years. David Shipler is an accomplished writer and consultant on social issues. His knowledge, experience, and extensive field work is authoritative and trustworthy. Shipler describes a vicious cycle of low paying jobs, health issues, abuse, addiction, and other factors that all combine to create a mountain of adversity that is virtually impossible to overcome. The American dream and promise of prosperity through hard work fails to deliver to the 35 million people in America who make up the working poor. Since there is neither one problem nor one solution to poverty, Shipler connects all of the issues together to show how they escalate each other. Poor children are abused, drugs and gangs run rampant in the poor neighborhoods, low wage dead end jobs, immigrants are exploited, high interest loans and credit cards entice people in times of crisis and unhealthy diets and lack of health care cause a multitude of problems. The only way that we can begin to see positive change is through a community approach joining the poverty stricken individuals, community, businesses, and government to band together to make a commitment to improve all areas that need help.

    Read More

  • Poverty in Everyday Use, Sonny's Blues, and The Cathedral

    874 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of An Experiment In Misery

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    This story could be interpreted as though it was trying to convince the reader that being content could have much smaller ties to money than the average person would like to believe. Toward the beginning of the story the young man had been berated with rude remarks by strangers as he walked through a well off side of town.

    Read More

  • What is Poverty?

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    What do you consider poverty to be? Do you have a definitive explanation of it or do you consider it an abstract circumstance? In the article "What is Poverty? Jo Goodwin Parker gives her ideas on what poverty is. First given as a speech, this article is written as an attack on human emotion.

    Read More

  • Poverty in Social Classes

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    The world contains a lot of societies, cultures, and classes. Each household belongs to some social class that represents their level of education, their work position, and their financial status. These different classes have created a conflict between people. It fills rich people's minds with the thought that poor people are criminals, and that conflict ended up with creating poverty. The authors Gilbert, Kahl, Magnet, and Gans are discussing the important causes and reasons that created poverty in comparing and contrasting these points with each other.

    Read More

  • Impact of Poverty on the lives of Raskolnikov, Gregor Samsa, and The Samsa Family

    1264 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poverty on social conditions affects everyone in every part of the world, no matter if they are rich or poor. First of all, everyone is divided into some sort of social class. The most known classes are the economic classes- the lower class, the middle class, and the higher class. The lower class goes through arduous labor all day and night to earn decent amounts of money to provide for themselves and their families. Most likely, they are the only source of income for the entire family. The higher class works hard to keep up or raise their high social status. They also work hard so they don’t loss their social rank, which permits them to hold a higher power over the middle and lower classes. Similarities of decisions made by characters in these two literary works will analyzed to understand the meaning behind the actions and influences of the social classes on each other.

    Read More

  • Position Of Poverty

    2322 Words  | 5 Pages

    Poverty, also known as the silent killer, exists in every corner of the world. In fact, almost half of the world’s population lives in poverty. According to the United States Census Bureau, there were 46.7 million people living in poverty the year of 2014 (1). Unfortunately, thousands of people die each year due to this world-wide problem. Some people view poverty as individuals or families not being able to afford an occupational meal or having to skip a meal to save money. However, this is not the true definition of poverty. According to the author of The Position of Poverty, John Kenneth Galbraith, “people are poverty-stricken when their income, even if adequate for survival, falls radically behind that of the community”, which means people

    Read More

  • The Causes and Effects of Poverty

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, sometimes actions take place that changes a person’s outlook on life and as you can see poverty is one that can have a huge effect on not only one person, but also the people around him/ her.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of William T. Vollmann's Poor People

Open Document