Barbara Ehrenreich’s bestselling book, Nickel and Dimed, is not only an excellently portrayed book for the classroom, but also a studious book to advocate for a social issue. The advocacy related in the book blends well with the societal campaign for a living wage. Ehrenreich’s book has created a lot of momentum for the workforce and how difficult it is to live life with a low-wage. For Ehrenreich, she could not just simply explain the statistics of how gruesome life is this way, but to experience in full. Thus, Ehrenreich throughout the book visits various parts of the country with a disguise of a low-wage worker. Not only is it the most effective way to learn about the ebbs and flows of the working class, it also is the most persuasive way
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However, what makes Nickel and Dimed better than the rest of her collection is how realistic it is. Not only is the description from a first person point of view, it is incredibly raw with experience that cannot be tinkered with in any way necessary. Going into the workforce as an undercover journalist, she is determined to find ways to bring this issue to light after being understated as an impossible problem to fix. “It is not hard to get my coworkers talking about their living situations, because of housing [...] is the principal source of disruption in their lives”. Towards every problem, there is always a solution. However, it is not always easy finding the source of problems in a country with over 320 million people. Consequently speaking, Barbara Ehrenreich uncovers the truth to numerous problems within the lives of low-wage workers. With that being said, this means that we are steps closer to solving this nationwide epidemic, and Nickel and Dimed helped contribute to the solution. Therefore, the aftermath of this book helped give the working class a strong voice to send their message nationwide. She helps advocate for these people through her exquisite writing and heart throbbing descriptive experiences. Known as a “veteran muckraker” by the New Yorker, she helps unfold this longlasting issue in America through her confidence and bravery as a writer. Not …show more content…
Although this history is not incredibly enormous as other parts of history, but this book does not contribute to the history of advocating for a living wage in America for many people. “For low-wage workers in general the trajectory has tended downwards, as employers have found more diabolical ways to suppress the earnings of their already underpaid workers”(228). Not only is Barbara Ehrenreich an incredibly talented author, she also is a political activist. She puts both of these qualities together to make an excellent piece of literature that will be remembered as a book that changed the American’s perspective on low-wage workers. People always say that everyone should work as a waitress for a year just so they know what it is like. This is said since people truly don’t understand how rough and ruthless the life of a low-wage worker can be, especially if you are living off of week to week paychecks. Although this book shows the brute of life in America, it can portray a beautiful scene of what life would be like if we solved this idea now rather than
However, what makes Nickel and Dimed better than the rest of her collection is how realistic it is. Not only is the description from a first person point of view, it is incredibly raw with experience that cannot be tinkered with in any way necessary. Going into the workforce as an undercover journalist, she is determined to find ways to bring this issue to light after being understated as an impossible problem to fix. “It is not hard to get my coworkers talking about their living situations, because of housing [...] is the principal source of disruption in their lives”. Towards every problem, there is always a solution. However, it is not always easy finding the source of problems in a country with over 320 million people. Consequently speaking, Barbara Ehrenreich uncovers the truth to numerous problems within the lives of low-wage workers. With that being said, this means that we are steps closer to solving this nationwide epidemic, and Nickel and Dimed helped contribute to the solution. Therefore, the aftermath of this book helped give the working class a strong voice to send their message nationwide. She helps advocate for these people through her exquisite writing and heart throbbing descriptive experiences. Known as a “veteran muckraker” by the New Yorker, she helps unfold this longlasting issue in America through her confidence and bravery as a writer. Not …show more content…
Although this history is not incredibly enormous as other parts of history, but this book does not contribute to the history of advocating for a living wage in America for many people. “For low-wage workers in general the trajectory has tended downwards, as employers have found more diabolical ways to suppress the earnings of their already underpaid workers”(228). Not only is Barbara Ehrenreich an incredibly talented author, she also is a political activist. She puts both of these qualities together to make an excellent piece of literature that will be remembered as a book that changed the American’s perspective on low-wage workers. People always say that everyone should work as a waitress for a year just so they know what it is like. This is said since people truly don’t understand how rough and ruthless the life of a low-wage worker can be, especially if you are living off of week to week paychecks. Although this book shows the brute of life in America, it can portray a beautiful scene of what life would be like if we solved this idea now rather than