What's Poverty ? : Jo Godwin Parker

 

What's Poverty? : Jo Godwin Parker

Jo Goodwin Parker gives her ideas on what poverty is. This essay is written as an attack on human emotion. Her use of connotative language creates many harsh images of her experiences in a life of rural poverty. By using these images, Parker is capable of causing the reader to feel emotional.

Parker creates a feeling of guilt in the readers. They feel guilty for their wealth which she lacks. For example, she uses the phrase 'you say in your clean clothes coming from your clean house,’ This causes the reader to feel guilty for having the opportunity to be clean when she tells us she doesn't have the same.

Parker is also successful in evoking sympathy from the reader. She uses connotative language to create disturbing images of what poverty is. For example, she calls poverty an 'acid that drips on pride until pride is worn away'.

Essay in brief

She says poverty is being dirty, smelly, and with no “proper” underwear on and with the stench of my rotting teeth near you.

 

Poverty is getting up every morning from a dirt-and-illness-stained mattress. The sheets have long since been used for diapers. Poverty is living in a smell that never leaves. This is a smell of urine, sour milk, and spoiling food etc.

 

Poverty is being tired. I have always been tired. They told me at the hospital when the last baby came that I had chronic anemia caused from poor diet, a bad case of worms, and that I needed a corrective operation. I listened politely—the poor are always polite.

 

The poor always listen. They don’t say that there is no money for iron pills, or better food, or worm medicine.

 

She says she has three children. When I left them with “Granny” the last time I had a job, I came home to find the baby covered with fly specks, and a diaper that had not been changed since I left. When the dried diaper came off, bits of my baby’s flesh came with it.

 

Poverty is dirt. It is managing life with grits and without eggs and oleo. Look at my hands, so cracked and red.

 

Poverty is staying up all night on cold nights to watch the fire knowing one spark on the newspaper covering the walls means your sleeping child dies in flames. Poverty is seeing your children forever with runny noses. Paper handkerchiefs cost money and all your rags you need for other things. Even more costly are antihistamines. Poverty is cooking without food and cleaning without soap.

 

Poverty is asking for help. You find out where the office is that you are supposed to visit. You circle that block    four or five times. Thinking of your children, you go in. Everyone is very busy. Finally, someone comes out and you tell her that you need help. That never is the person you need to see. You go see another person, and after spilling the whole shame of your poverty all over the desk between you, you find that this isn’t the right office after all.

 

Poverty is remembering. Mostly I remember being married. I was so young then. I am still young. For a time, we had all the things you have. There was a little house in another town, with hot water and everything. Then my husband lost his job. I knew my husband was leaving the day he left, but there were no good-byes between us.

 

Poverty is looking into a black future. Your children won’t play with my boys. They will turn to other boys who steal to get what they want. I can already see them behind the bars of their prison instead of behind the bars of my poverty. Or they will turn to the freedom of alcohol or drugs, and find themselves enslaved. And my daughter? At best, there is for her a life like mine.

 

In some places there is a surplus commodities program. Not here. The country said it cost too much. There is a school lunch program. But I have two children who will already be damaged by the time they get to school.

 

But, you say to me, there are health clinics. Yes, there are health clinics and they are in the towns.

 

Poverty is an acid that drips on pride until all pride is worn away.

 

Even the poor can dream. A dream of a time when there is money. Money for the right kinds of food, for worm medicine, for iron pills, for toothbrushes, for hand cream, for a hammer and nails and a bit of screening, for a shovel, for a bit of paint, for some sheeting, for needles and thread.

 

I have come out of my despair to tell you this. Remember I did not come from another place or another time.

 

Understanding the text

 

Answer the following questions.

 

a. What is poverty according to Parker?

She defines poverty as a lack – that is living without hope, better foods, medicinal care, proper sanitation, and proper education. It is like an acid that destroys pride, honor, health, and the future. (Answer may vary)

b. How is poverty difficult for Parker’s children? List some specific examples.

Parker lets her readers realize her poverty through stories of her children. When children are introduced to her plight, we feel more guilt. She says, her children have no extra books, no magazines, no extra pencils, or crayons, or paper. They need them but do not. Further, she says, talking about her children that they do not have health. They have worms, they have infections, and they have pink-eye all summer. These descriptions of her children cause the reader to feel horrible for them.

 

c. How does Parker try to obtain help, and what problems does she encounter?

In the author’s view, if the poor ask for help, it has a cost. They are asked to wait. Thus, waiting makes asking for help such a difficult and painful experience. They visit one door after another and wait but in vain. Parker tries to visit offices to obtain help. She finds out where the office is first but she realizes she lands at the wrong place. She is either asked to visit another office or visit sometime later. She tells her miserable story but her plight is lost in shame and despair.

 

d. Why are people’s opinions and prejudices her greatest obstacles?

Parker believes that rich people in the community are not kind and considerate about the plight of poor people. Their prejudices stand as the greatest obstacle in the socio-economic up-liftment of poor people. They spend time gossiping at the gas station or the barbershop or at the corner store criticizing the futility of government spending by various agencies on immoral mothers of illegitimate children. They never realize the poor have been looked at unjustly by society. The poor are the victims of bad circumstances and rich people can contribute to uplift their economic lot.

 

e. How does Parker defend her inability to get help? How does she discount the usual solutions society has for poverty (e.g., welfare, education, and health clinics)?

Parker vehemently defends her inability to get help.  At the same time, she discounts the usual solutions society has for poverty, for example, welfare schemes, education, or health clinics meant for poor people.

 

Under the social welfare scheme of the government she was provided with 78 dollars a month for her four-member family. The grant being meager would help them not suffer from hunger but they become a victim of malnutrition. Being alive and having sound health are two markedly different aspects of life. The children suffer from worms and infection and she can't spend on their health or on her own up keeping.

There are schools with lunch programs for school-going children but her children would be already damaged by the time they go to school.

The surplus commodity program does not help her either.

There are health clinics as well but they are in towns whereas she lives eight kilometers away from town. The travel to and fro the town cost fare which she can't afford to pay.

 

 

Reference to the context

 

a. Explain the following: Poverty is looking into a black future.

Parker explains that her poverty is compelling her to have a black future for her children. The neighborhood children don’t play with her children because they look dirty and of ill health. As they don’t get an opportunity to mix and mingle up with better peers, they look for socialization with similar poor children. Eventually, they will get caught up in anti-social activities because of poverty and bad influence and as a mother she can imagine, they will be behind the bars in the near future. They will also turn to alcohol and drugs and become victims of social evils. Her daughter will lack a social standing and end up her life not different from the mother’s.

 

b. What does Parker mean by “The poor are always silent”?

Parker says that poor people are always silent because they can’t raise their voices in society. If they try to seek help, they are ignored. They are powerless people.

 

c. What writing strategy does the author use at the beginning of most of the paragraphs? Do you notice a recurring pattern? What is it?

Almost every paragraph begins with, “poverty is,” or “But you say to me,” followed by a solution or problem and all the reasons the solution cannot be reached. Only paragraphs 1, 7, 9, 14, and 15 do not begin with one of these phrases. This repetition doesn’t occur only to show the hopelessness of poverty. It shows that poverty is not just one problem that may be addressed with one solution, but layers and layers of needs and requirements that demand attention.

d. How does Parker develop each paragraph? What details make each paragraph memorable?

She starts almost every paragraph with a new definition of what poverty is. Some examples are: ‘poverty is being tired'; ‘poverty is dirt'; 'poverty is asking for help’; and 'poverty is looking into a black future'. She adds detail in the paragraph about the definition introduced in the beginning line. All of these phrases create a different image of poverty and each one is a success in evoking sympathy from the reader. They all force the reader to imagine poverty in a new way. We all knew it was bad but Parker makes us realize how bleak poverty is. She shows us that there is no hope for the poor without understanding.

 

e. In the final paragraph, how does the author use questions to involve the reader in the issue of poverty?

She says that the poor are silent people and asks the readers to be silent too. In other words, she implores readers to come out to help her in despair. She says she did not come from another place or another time. Others like her are all around. She asks readers to look at the poor with kindness and sympathy. Society can take a consistent effort to raise the economic standard of the poor people.

 

Reference beyond the text

 

a. Write a few paragraphs on a social problem (homelessness, unemployment, racism) in Nepal.

 

Nestled almost entirely in the Himalayas, the country of Nepal is home to more than 28 million people. Unfortunately, homelessness burdens more than 250,000 people and an additional 2.8 million are bound to live in the slums, many being children. Political instability, natural disasters, and a weak economy are all factors that contribute to the state of homelessness in the country.

Around 25 percent of Nepali people are living off less than $1.90 a day. Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. More than a quarter of its population lives below the poverty line. This means that thousands of families are living off a little more than a dollar a day, which makes owning a home nearly impossible. This statistic directly affects the rate of homelessness in Nepal, which is extremely high and will only continue to rise if nothing is done.

 

Natural disasters are destroying homes. Due to its location along the slopes of the Himalayan mountains, Nepal is prone to natural disasters. The country is at high risk for earthquakes, floods, and landslides. All of these are disasters capable of destroying hundreds of homes in an instant. In 2015, an earthquake demolished more than 600,000 homes, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless and costing about $10 billion worth of damage. A reported 22,000 people were injured. The humanitarian response was large, however, and Nepal received worldwide help with disaster relief from various countries including Bangladesh, China, and India.

Homeless children in Nepal are vulnerable to a number of threats including drug addiction and child labor, which are both crippling to a child’s potential. Because they do not have access to constant shelter or a safe environment, these children’s education and futures are often compromised. Fortunately, organizations like Children & Youth First are working to rescuing these children from the streets and give them a space to learn, grow and thrive in a safe and supportive environment. In addition to rescuing homeless children from living on the streets, this organization also helped to rebuild the rural government schools that were destroyed in the 2015 earthquake.

Homelessness in Nepal is still a prevalent issue, but organizations are working to improve the lives of those affected by poverty. By rescuing people from the streets, rehabilitating people, and giving homeless children an opportunity to tap into their potentials, these campaigns and programs are helping to lift the burden of homelessness from the country.

 

b. Write a short definition essay on Growing up in Poverty.

The world has always been divided into two economic classes- the rich and the poor. This inequality is created in a seamless, natural way, and maybe it cannot be really recovered on a structural level.


Poverty usually deprives the people living in such a condition from many advantageous opportunities or conditions which are enjoyed by the people who do not live in poverty. This limits the scope for the development of all such individuals who are born and brought up in conditions of abject poverty.

However, we cannot say that growing up in poverty is essentially a bad or detrimental thing. We have plenty of real life examples of ‘rags to riches stories which show us that many a time, this lack of a smooth, stable lifestyle creates a sense of determination among the deprived which eventually goes a long way to empower them to overcome the same situation.

Growing up in poverty can restrict what kind of amenities one is subjected to. Such facilities include health, hygiene, sanitation, education, transportation, and many other facilities which can be considered to be very important, especially during the developmental years of any child.

They can hamper the physical and mental growth of any child and therefore create long-lasting effects in the sort of the adult they turn out to eventually be. But, in such cases, we cannot directly blame the parents for limiting the exposure of their children as even they are constantly being systematically deprived of the same facilities. This can also be seen as a continuous source of exploitation, as the resources which are not being enjoyed by the poor inevitably are drained by the other section of the society.

This constant drain of potential resources- both natural and artificial- is one of the most adverse consequences of growing up in poverty, and it is even more important because it continues to maintain this economic imbalance as it has been existing in our society.

Therefore, living in poverty for generations prevent the poor to rise from their otherwise not so lofty stature and therefore stops their actual growth in both literal and figurative ways. Another problem is that through the lack of proper education, the poor are almost always forced to find menial jobs which go hand in hand with the education they receive, if they, in fact, receive any of it.

The problem is that the people growing up in poverty does not get any extensive knowledge about the skills one needs to survive in the cutthroat real-life competition out there, and since they are not properly equipped to deal with the real-life challenges, they automatically always lag behind, although it is not their fault in any way whatsoever.

Another problem is that the people living in poverty somehow become very vulnerable to any sort of opportunities that might open up for them, and they might easily dive into such opportunities without realizing how right or wrong it might be to do so.

This is how they become susceptible to heinous crimes such as smuggling, terrorism, or human trafficking. It is indeed surprising how far some people are willing to go for some financial security and stability and they are obviously not to be blamed, even if they do not count the probable problems or repercussions their actions might have on them and their close ones in general.

Needless to say, once entangled in such webs of crime, it is really difficult for someone to regain normalcy in their lives.

However, the lack can also be a chief source for one’s motivation and pushes people to achieve things on their own which the system had prevented them from achieving.

We have heard many real-life stories of performing artists and sports persons and about how they started off their careers with basically nothing to their favor but later on they went to turn all the tables and be both inspiring and successful.

Conclusion

Growing up in poverty obviously has its ups and downs. But we need to understand and make others understand that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with either the condition of poverty or the people who have grown up in such conditions. Once we all recognize and start to realize these truths, dealing with such people becomes somehow easier and systematic, and also, in some ways, unbiased. The problem with our society is how they link one person’s abilities to be successful in their lives to their immediate social and economic standing in the society and this misconception can completely destroy one’s chances to improve in life