Poverty In Gordon Parks 'Flavio's Home'

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Imagine living in a cardboard box, with nowhere else to go, no food to eat and the rain pouring down hard. This is a horrible way to live. Yet worldwide millions of people are living in these conditions. True, the United States has poverty nationwide, but nothing compared to what is happening in third world countries. In some countries, no middle class exists. Only high class and low class, if someone is not rich they are dirt poor. In some third world countries people struggle just to survive. They have to live day to day not knowing if they will have a full meal, much less any scraps to eat. They have to go looking for food by either; looking through dumpsters, beg for the food or scrape up some change, enough to buy a very small portion. It is harder to find clothes than to find food. Because of the hardships endured by these folks, cruelty and inhuman behavior flourish within the society. In the essay “Flavio’s Home”, Gordon Parks illustrates the effects of a young boy living in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. The young boy, Flavio, lived with seven siblings, his mom and his dad in a small disgusting shack. Flavio was responsible for the care of his siblings because his dad is always working at his store where he sold kerosene…show more content…
People are struggling to survive everyday because they have no food and shelter. These people may always dig through the trash to find something to eat for the day, not knowing if they will find anything. Families may always live in horrible conditions, having no other choice, because they do not have enough money. It’s extremely hard for them to find well paying jobs in these countries. For most of these people it’s nearly impossible to get out of poverty because they were born and raised in that culture, unless other people who aren’t in poverty help them out. Poverty is an example of man's inhumanity to man because people could go out and help, but most do

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