The Crooked Ladder Analysis

The title of this essay makes sure to give nothing way into regards to what the article is about. When I saw the title “The Crooked Ladder,” I didn’t know what to expect from the reading. I certainly didn’t jump the topic upward mobility in capitalist criminal trade, or what it means to be a criminal with modern day law enforcement. This is an instance that the title of the essay perhaps left me to anticipate some sort of personal narrative, but instead this piece of creative nonfiction uses the experiences of people a supporting evidence for an argument about what in means to be a gangster. The author of this essay uses creative nonfiction in order to tell relevant stories that people experienced in a way that would fit into the argument that …show more content…
He boils a good portion of it down to police interaction with the groups when he writes, “what is striking about Goffman’s book is not the cultural difference between being an Italian thug in the early part of the twentieth century and being an African-American thug today. It’s the role of law enforcement in each era.” Gladwell argues that the police turned a blind eye not only because they were being paid off, but because they have the technology to better collect evidence on the criminals. Due to being able to scan idea, catalog fingerprints on the internet, and collect DNA evidence, Gladwell argues that this irrefutable evidence is what allows more arrests to happen. However, I feel that this argument is a little to simplified. While the Italian mob manifested itself from a community that was oppressed by their surrounding society, similar to the way in which African Americans have been oppressed, their oppression was new and temporary. Italian began to migrate to America, and this is the point that they became a stigmatized group, and this pressure on them lessened. On the other hand, black people in America have been oppressed …show more content…
He makes it clear that rising up this crooked ladder is the only way that certain oppressed groups can find a way to make a living. When society expects marginalized groups to take part in drug trade or prostitution, it is hard for these people to find opportunities in other places. It is for this reason that they are driven into criminal practices like this so that they can support themselves and their family, and the author makes this very apparent. The legitimization of these practices and framing them in the way that this author does is a creative way of expressing his opinion to his