Asking the Questions Everyone Else is Afraid to Ask: A Summary of William T. Vollmann’s Poor People In the first section of Poor People William T. Vollmann centers around who, what, why, and how. He applies these questions to the many poor people he comes across in order to come to an understanding of the general poverty stricken population. In the first chapter William Vollmann travels to Thailand to interview poor people. He immediately comes across Sunee, a drunken, possibly former prostitute, who insists he goes home with her. Vollmann interviews Sunee and her family, consisting of her daughter and mother. He asks each of them “Why do you think that some people are poor and others are rich?” to which Sunee answers, “We believe in the Buddhist
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Vollmann interviews several more people and asks them if they are poor. He first speaks with a fishermen in Shabwa. When asked why his god, Allah, made some rich and some poor he responded “Allah does the right thing for us...Everybody can work. Everybody can get work if we have Allah-luck”(Vollmann, 29). While most, by Vollmann’s and United Nations standards (“According to the United Nations..[there are] 120 million people below the poverty line of $4 a day”)(56), are very poor, even more so than Sunee, they believe that they are not. Some believe this because they believe their god has given them what they need and deserve. “Allah knows”. Vollmann compares this notion to a child with divorcing parents. He compares the belief that “I accept the reality in which I discover myself because I am resigned to my bad karma from a previous existence” (31) to “If Mommy and Daddy divorce, it will be my fault”(31). He says that while the child may believe this to be true we try to convince them that it is false, because it is, but also because it is harmful to the child’s mental well being, just as it is for these poor people to believe that they are not indeed poor. Others believe they are not poor because they are able to fulfill their basic needs and are happy. He then asks these people why people are poor. A lot say because that is what their god has decided to do. Others blame rich people
Vollmann interviews several more people and asks them if they are poor. He first speaks with a fishermen in Shabwa. When asked why his god, Allah, made some rich and some poor he responded “Allah does the right thing for us...Everybody can work. Everybody can get work if we have Allah-luck”(Vollmann, 29). While most, by Vollmann’s and United Nations standards (“According to the United Nations..[there are] 120 million people below the poverty line of $4 a day”)(56), are very poor, even more so than Sunee, they believe that they are not. Some believe this because they believe their god has given them what they need and deserve. “Allah knows”. Vollmann compares this notion to a child with divorcing parents. He compares the belief that “I accept the reality in which I discover myself because I am resigned to my bad karma from a previous existence” (31) to “If Mommy and Daddy divorce, it will be my fault”(31). He says that while the child may believe this to be true we try to convince them that it is false, because it is, but also because it is harmful to the child’s mental well being, just as it is for these poor people to believe that they are not indeed poor. Others believe they are not poor because they are able to fulfill their basic needs and are happy. He then asks these people why people are poor. A lot say because that is what their god has decided to do. Others blame rich people