Humans are surrounded by poverty everywhere they go, but never realized the long lasting effects of it in our society and individuals. In the essay "Black Hair" by Gary Soto, he explains the life of a young seventeen year old Mexican who struggles on the streets to make a decent living . Soto is able to portray the emotions and experiences of his life by writing the essay in first person. The audience has the opportunity to relate towards what life is when not having a place to sleep at night, being tired from work and dirty because there is no home to go to and shower. Likewise, in the story "Sonny 's Blues" by James Baldwin, a black teacher living in the "ghetto" city of Harlem, explains in first person the struggles of his brother Sonny
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Soto tells the lack of succeeding in his life as a homeless Mexican. He is affected intellectually by the negative idea he has set on his mind that his fate is, "To marry Mexican poor, work Mexican hours and in the end die a Mexican death, broke and despair."(Soto) He thinks he will be in despair because he would know that he had only fulfilled a future he saw from his older coworkers. The low self teem causes him to give up on dreaming and bettering himself since he has been poor all his life. He doesn 't seek a better life. At the Valley tire factory where he gets a job he is only being paid 1.65 instead of the minimum wage set by law of 3 dollars. Him and his coworkers seem to be conform with the wage since they don 't complain about it. The lawlessness of not getting paid well, breaking into cars and houses represent the lawlessness of the poverty Soto is living. While Soto is working and asked to bring Iggy certain tires he takes him the wrong tires giving Iggy the opportunity to tell Soto, "Mexican, how can you be so stupid?"(Soto pg 322) This reveals that Soto is stupid because he is Mexican, which shows the reader Soto 's breakdown of civility. He acknowledges how difficult it is to find a good job when his appearance looks and smells like he hasn’t showered in days, along with being Mexican. However Soto doesn 't discuss …show more content…
Sonny is aware of the limitations he faces due to the place where he lives; being black and poor. His brain can 't deal with positive toughts since all he has ever known is the dark depressing side of his life. All the overthinking and tragedy in his like seem to much for hime to handle causing him to turn to heroin in order to escape his reality, where both his parents died while he was young. Selling and using drugs doens 't do him any better than getting him into prison. What does controll his emotions, is the relaxing, yet depressing tunes of jazz music. After Sonny listened to a street signer he tells his brother was he relizes "..it struck me all of a sudden how much suffering she must have had to go through--to sing like that. It 's repulsive to think you have to suffer that much." (Bladwin 142) Sonny 's brother understands how no one has been there next to Sonny to listen and advice him correctly. " Whereas his intellectualism and emotional distance has kept him from understanding Sonny, he begins to feel understand his brother, having suffered himself from the loss of his daughter. In the nightclub as Sonny 's brother
Soto tells the lack of succeeding in his life as a homeless Mexican. He is affected intellectually by the negative idea he has set on his mind that his fate is, "To marry Mexican poor, work Mexican hours and in the end die a Mexican death, broke and despair."(Soto) He thinks he will be in despair because he would know that he had only fulfilled a future he saw from his older coworkers. The low self teem causes him to give up on dreaming and bettering himself since he has been poor all his life. He doesn 't seek a better life. At the Valley tire factory where he gets a job he is only being paid 1.65 instead of the minimum wage set by law of 3 dollars. Him and his coworkers seem to be conform with the wage since they don 't complain about it. The lawlessness of not getting paid well, breaking into cars and houses represent the lawlessness of the poverty Soto is living. While Soto is working and asked to bring Iggy certain tires he takes him the wrong tires giving Iggy the opportunity to tell Soto, "Mexican, how can you be so stupid?"(Soto pg 322) This reveals that Soto is stupid because he is Mexican, which shows the reader Soto 's breakdown of civility. He acknowledges how difficult it is to find a good job when his appearance looks and smells like he hasn’t showered in days, along with being Mexican. However Soto doesn 't discuss …show more content…
Sonny is aware of the limitations he faces due to the place where he lives; being black and poor. His brain can 't deal with positive toughts since all he has ever known is the dark depressing side of his life. All the overthinking and tragedy in his like seem to much for hime to handle causing him to turn to heroin in order to escape his reality, where both his parents died while he was young. Selling and using drugs doens 't do him any better than getting him into prison. What does controll his emotions, is the relaxing, yet depressing tunes of jazz music. After Sonny listened to a street signer he tells his brother was he relizes "..it struck me all of a sudden how much suffering she must have had to go through--to sing like that. It 's repulsive to think you have to suffer that much." (Bladwin 142) Sonny 's brother understands how no one has been there next to Sonny to listen and advice him correctly. " Whereas his intellectualism and emotional distance has kept him from understanding Sonny, he begins to feel understand his brother, having suffered himself from the loss of his daughter. In the nightclub as Sonny 's brother