Henry Horner Homes, an inner-city housing project, is the setting in which the story of two boys growing up in America’s inner-city occurs. The story tracks the River’s family, particularly the two middle boys, Lafeyette and Pharoah, focusing on the strife-ridden times of drugs, death, gangs, and poverty. The author describes how devastating life in the inner city is for a family, but mainly for the children.
Public housing complexes were seen as pleasurable places. When the boys’ mother, LaJoe, first moved to Horner she was thirteen. The homes had white, freshly painted walls, new linoleum floors, closets you could hide in, and brand new appliances. The children went to dances in the basement, belonged to the girl scouts, and played outside on the playground surrounded by freshly planted grass. This harmonious sight all came to an abrupt end. The housing authority did not have the money or interest to put into the projects. They did not have much concern for low-income families and, therefore, the projects were neglected. The smell in the apartments became so bad that people thought dead fetuses were being flushed down the toilets. The appliances in the apartments hardly ever worked, so cooking was limited. After an inspection of the basement, over 2000 new and used appliances were found covered with rats, animal carcasses and excrements. The dead animals, paraphernalia, and female undergarments explained the smell lingering throughout the apartments.
Inner-city life is filled with glimmers of hope. The children had hopes of leaving the dreadful streets of the ghetto and moving into an innovative and improved place. There are times when Lafayette states, …
… middle of paper …
…eir mothers are getting pregnant, commonly, with a different father for each child.
Kotlowitz does an excellent job portraying how demoralizing life in the ghetto really is. Through showing what the children of the book go through, Kotlowitz remains very neutral. He bestows the thoughts, fears, and hopes of inner-city children that normally are not exposed to those who do not live in these circumstances. Lafayette and Pharoah are only two of the thousands of children suffering in these disturbing conditions. The Chicago Housing Authority did go in and clean up the buildings, but without accessible money there is not that much that can be done. The children born into poverty cannot overcome the situation, unless they are provided with the means and opportunities to do so.
Works Cited:
Kotlowitz, Alex. There are no children here. New York: Doubleday.1991.
Finding Strength in Poverty in There Are No Children Here
There are No Children Here – Finding Strength in Poverty
Being privileged is something that I didn’t understand until I read There are No Children Here, by Alex Kotlowitz. The truth is that I knew I had it better than others, but the absolute difference was not truly recognized until I met the boys Lafayette, and Pharaoh. These boys were presented to me by Kotlowitz, via his book, and the evident pain and sorrow that these young men went through on a daily basis was more than most privileged people experience in an entire lifetime. That is what being privileged is.
When I started reading this book, I thought that is was going to be another poor me story about some poor black kids who got a raw deal. That was my ignorant, privileged life rearing its head. When I forged ahead, and read the book, I did so in seek of a grade, not a new perspective. I got to the fifth page, and I felt guilty. The guilt again was a selfish one, for I had been fooled to believe that the poor were poor because they were lazy. I was forced to believe that I had discussed and argued issues of poverty for the last 10 years, only to find that I was arguing in ignorance. These children were poor by birth, just the same as I was privileged by birth. By accident of birth, these children would endure more pain and suffering than I could imagine. The feeling made me shutter with disbelief that people actually lived like this, in America. So I read on further, only discover more terrifying stories of death, abuse, filth, sorrow, poverty, and addiction.
Lafayette and Pharaoh are two of the seven kids birthed by LaJoe Rivers in Chicago Illinois. They all currently reside at the Henry Horner Homes that rests nestled away from the city amist anot…
… middle of paper …
…lan on accomplishing their dreams, dreams of survival. That survival to them though will mean more than nearly anything I will do in my life. For them to surpass their friends, battle the lifestyle, conquer the schools, and beat the streets, is an accomplishment not only in academics, but in life. I remember how much my High School Graduation Ceremony meant to me, and that is why I didn’t go. I cared so little about graduating that the ceremony meant nothing. That is a luxury that is not bestowed on everyone, and especially not these young men. I have a great respect for these kids, for they have battled unimaginable adversity, and will hopefully overcome all of the hell that was forced upon them in their youth. I hope I am half as strong at 70 as they were at nine and twelve.
Works Cited:
Kotlowitz, Alex. There are no children here. New York: Doubleday.1991.