"There is at bottom only one problem in the world.... How does one break through? How does one get into the open? How does one burst the cocoon, and become a butterfly? -Thomas Mann
Definition: Struggle: To be strenuously engaged with a problem, task, or undertaking
-The free dictionary
Definition: Struggle: To be strenuously engaged with a problem, task, or undertaking
-The free dictionary
One can interpret struggle as an obstacle, a hindrance, or an impediment. Some claim that struggle is healthy. Struggle can be healthy by giving an individual motivation to overcome struggles and tasks. Others reckon that struggle is harmful. Much study has been done on this subject. This essay will argue that, regardless of what some think, struggle, specifically poverty and racism is multidimensional and has implications that can have a negative impact on us.
Struggle is multidimensional. This is proven in the eye-opening book, Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez. For example, Francisco experiences multiple struggles, but mainly undocumentation. This particular struggle causes him to fear deportation. An example from the text proves he has fear is, “I lived in constant fear for 10 long years”(Jimenez, 1). Another example within the text is when Francisco states, “But what I feared most, happened in the same year”(Jimenez, 3). To verify his fear of deportation the text proclaims, “As I grew older, my fear of being deported grew”(Jimenez, 2). All in all struggles do cause you to have fear(s).
Along the lines of struggle being multidimensional, we can also observe its implications. Once again using Breaking Through, Panchito struggles with poverty. Poverty affects Panchito’s education, health, treatment, and living conditions. There are several examples from the book that show the implications of poverty. One example of poverty affecting Panchito’s education when the book says, “Every year Roberto and I missed months of school to help mama and papa work in the fields”(Jimenez, 2). If Panchito and his family weren’t in poverty, he wouldn’t have to leave school to work in the fields. “The doctor double-checked the list of diseases I had marked on the form earlier”(Jimenez, 11). This shows how poverty affects health because the doctor assumes that since he is poor, he must have a disease. Another example from the book is when “La migra” says, “It was one of your people”(Jimenez, 5). If Panchito was in poverty “La migra” wouldn’t have said that to him. Lastly, poverty affected Panchito’s everyday life is when Panchito’s family gets a hotel room that is small just like the cabin they lived in. The only hotel room they could afford was a small one with a stained mattress that they all shared. Struggle has implications that can be fatal.
Particularly, there are implications of poverty and living conditions other than Breaking Through Poverty affects living conditions in several ways. www.Irle.berkeley.edu says that, “Seventy-eight percent of the non-poor live in homes their families own, compared to 41 percent of the poor and 24 percent of those living in poor, single-parent families.” This means that 78 percent of people who are not poor live in their family’s homes. The article, “Poor living conditions” also says, “Roof, foundation, or other structural defects that may expose the occupant to fire, burns, shock, accident, or other dangers to health or safety.” This means that people in poverty with poor homes are more exposed to accidents like fires. Lastly, Homelessness in America states that, “35 percent of the homeless population are families with children, which is the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. In addition, 3.5 million people were forced to sleep in parks, under bridges, in shelter of cars.” This means that 35% of homeless people have children, and some sleep in shelters or cars. All in all, poverty has a major impact on living conditions for everyone.
Not only does poverty affect living conditions, but it also affects one’s education. Poverty can affect education in several ways. For example in the book, The Hunger Games, Poverty affects education. How, Katniss’s sister Prim does not go to school because she has to work to make money. This reveals the implications of poverty because Prim must work to make money rather than getting educated at school. In the book, The Outsiders poverty affects one’s social relationship with the rich people which causes one to kill the other, and when they run away an individual misses months of school. This indicates the ramification of poverty because poverty caused the individual to kill the other, and miss months of school. Once again, In the Hunger games, Rue says, “Don’t you have to be in school,” I ask. “Not during harvest. Everyone works then,” says Rue. This shows the implications that poverty has on education because Rue must miss school to work. In conclusion, poverty has a significant influence on people in poverty.
Poverty also has repercussions on one’s health in several ways. The article “Poverty and health in the United States states, “If you are poor, you are more likely to live in communities with hazardous outdoor and indoor air pollution. Your children are more likely to have elevated lead levels and resultant problems, such as lower IQ scores, and reading levels, attention deficits and behavioral problems.” This means that people in poverty are more likely to be less intelligent due to poverty. The article, “Poverty and health in the United States” also says, “When you are poor you are more likely to be obese. You don’t get enough of the healthy foods and you don’t get good nutrients. You are more likely to be addicted to cigarettes.” Lastly, research states, “If you are poor, you are more likely to develop many illnesses, more likely to become injured, more likely to become disabled, and more likely to die early”(Poverty and Health in the United States.) This means that you basically have a disadvantage in life for being in poverty. Once again poverty shows us its implications.
Lastly, poverty has multiple implications on the treatment of individuals. The article, “Poverty treated as a crime in the U.S.” says, “Being poor in America can quite literally become a crime. Enrenreich recalls the story of a 62-year old homeless Vietnam veteran in a wheelchair who was arrested while sleeping in a homeless shelter because he had an outstanding warrant. His warrant was for criminal trespassing due to the fact that he had been previously caught sleeping in the street. So, in fact, they arrested him for being homeless.” This shows the effects that poverty has on one’s treatment because if he weren’t in poverty he wouldn’t have been treated like that. “Under pressure from her family, she married a man who was also abusive,” says the article, “People in poverty getting treated horrible.” This reveals the implications of poverty by showing us a woman in poverty that was mistreated by her husband. “People who escape poverty are treated as suspects, enemies of the countries,” states, “The people who have worked hard, who have escaped poverty, who have gone through various income levels to become middle class, upper class, rich, wealthy, they all of the sudden have become enemies of the country.” This means that people who actually worked to become wealthy unlike others are treated horribly as if they’ve done something wrong. Poverty affects everything including you.
So far, this essay has shown the implications of poverty. Some may argue that poverty is healthy and not to judge an individual in poverty because they themselves were once in poverty. I disagree with this statement and believe that poverty affects one’s education, living conditions, health, and treatment.
Poverty is not the only struggle that has a negative impact; racism is just harmful. Racism can be defined as something harmful or stereotypical directed to a particular race.
For example, a man named Bruce Lee went through racism, and still overcame it. “If you weren’t white, there was some serious racism in this country [during Lee’s lifetime],” White said. Not only did he break through racism, he took martial arts to another level. Everyone from all races wanted to do it. Bruce Lee overcame racism, and became a world famous role model. But Bruce Lee didn’t learn martial arts to look cool but for himself, he once said, “I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.” This shows that he did not care about what everybody thought of him, but what he thought of himself.
Racism also has implications. The revealing book, Breaking Through proves this in several ways. “Susan’s parents don’t want her to go out with me. Because I am Mexican”(Jimenez, 104). This shows how racism can affect one’s love life; Roberto cannot go out with Susan since he is Mexican. Racism can also make someone feel bad because they are called racist names. Panchito stops bringing taquitos to school because, “They called me chile stomper or tamale wrapper.” This forced Panchito to stop bringing taquitos to school and a bologna sandwich instead. When Panchito goes to high school Panchito’s counselor says, “We have excellent vocational programs in car mechanics, electronics, and wood shop. We also have a program for future farmers.” This shows how his counselor stereotypes him by thinking he wanted to be a farmer, but he really wanted to be a teacher. In conclusion racism can have a major influence in an individuals life.
The movie, 42 which is about the obstacles Jackie Robinson overcomes also reveals racism and its implications. Jackie goes through segregation, and is treated harshly. For example, when Jackie Robinson wanted to use a bathroom at a gas station the owner did not let him use it. Jackie who was an amazing ball player had to play in a “negro” league. Robinson was treated badly by his own team. His team, The Brooklyn Dodgers made a petition to prevent him from joining the team. When Jackie and The Dodgers intended on staying at a hotel out of town they were denied because of Jackie. They didn’t want a “negro” in their hotel. “If you are the first black anything, you can’t be good. Your ass better be miraculous. You have to be unbelievable,” says Alonzo Bodden.
The only reason the owner didn’t let Jackie use it was because of his skin color. He couldn’t play in the major league because he was black. They treated him a different way because of the color of his skin. The Jackie Robinson film, which is about Jackie
Robinson overcoming racism is truly inspiring.
Not only has Jackie Robinson experienced racism and it’s implications, but I have as well. This kid asked me what race I was and I replied “Asian.” Since he knew I was Asian; everyday he would ask if I wanted fried rice and other racist jokes. I told him I was tired of it, but he wouldn’t listen. The implications of this were that I didn’t eat fried rice for a while or any other Asian food. Eventually he stopped. Everybody, including Jackie Robinson, has gone through racism.
Kelly McGonial, health physiologists claims that stress is your friend, and can have positive outcomes, and I’d like to apply her theory to the stressed caused by poverty and racism. She says that people with stress, who think it’s good for them, are healthier. Basically, if you believe stress is healthy for you it will be. Students participated in a “stress test.” This involved students counting backwards from 996 in 7’s. Those who believed stress was positive did a better job than those who believed stress was negative. She also claims that when you believe your body is capable of taking stress, it can. People who spend time caring for others get their stress relieved. People participated in a study by going to an old folks home. Those particular people who cared for the elderly relieved their own stress. By thinking stress is good for you, you are lying to yourself. Anybody counting backwards from 996 would get frustrated. There is a difference between stress and struggle. By thinking your body is capable of taking stress you are just lying to yourself again. By spending time at an old folks home you would feel good about yourself but not stress relieved. I partly agree with her position because some stress may be good, but not all. Being called racial slurs is not going to help you live longer, living in poverty is not going to help you live longer. All in all, Kelly McGonial believes stress can have positive outcomes.
Struggle, specifically poverty and racism is multidimensional and has its implications. This is proven in the book, Breaking Through. Poverty has its implications on living conditions, education, health, and treatment. Overall, this essay has shown the implications of struggle. Some claim struggle is our friend, but it can have negative implications.
Struggle is multidimensional. This is proven in the eye-opening book, Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez. For example, Francisco experiences multiple struggles, but mainly undocumentation. This particular struggle causes him to fear deportation. An example from the text proves he has fear is, “I lived in constant fear for 10 long years”(Jimenez, 1). Another example within the text is when Francisco states, “But what I feared most, happened in the same year”(Jimenez, 3). To verify his fear of deportation the text proclaims, “As I grew older, my fear of being deported grew”(Jimenez, 2). All in all struggles do cause you to have fear(s).
Along the lines of struggle being multidimensional, we can also observe its implications. Once again using Breaking Through, Panchito struggles with poverty. Poverty affects Panchito’s education, health, treatment, and living conditions. There are several examples from the book that show the implications of poverty. One example of poverty affecting Panchito’s education when the book says, “Every year Roberto and I missed months of school to help mama and papa work in the fields”(Jimenez, 2). If Panchito and his family weren’t in poverty, he wouldn’t have to leave school to work in the fields. “The doctor double-checked the list of diseases I had marked on the form earlier”(Jimenez, 11). This shows how poverty affects health because the doctor assumes that since he is poor, he must have a disease. Another example from the book is when “La migra” says, “It was one of your people”(Jimenez, 5). If Panchito was in poverty “La migra” wouldn’t have said that to him. Lastly, poverty affected Panchito’s everyday life is when Panchito’s family gets a hotel room that is small just like the cabin they lived in. The only hotel room they could afford was a small one with a stained mattress that they all shared. Struggle has implications that can be fatal.
Particularly, there are implications of poverty and living conditions other than Breaking Through Poverty affects living conditions in several ways. www.Irle.berkeley.edu says that, “Seventy-eight percent of the non-poor live in homes their families own, compared to 41 percent of the poor and 24 percent of those living in poor, single-parent families.” This means that 78 percent of people who are not poor live in their family’s homes. The article, “Poor living conditions” also says, “Roof, foundation, or other structural defects that may expose the occupant to fire, burns, shock, accident, or other dangers to health or safety.” This means that people in poverty with poor homes are more exposed to accidents like fires. Lastly, Homelessness in America states that, “35 percent of the homeless population are families with children, which is the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. In addition, 3.5 million people were forced to sleep in parks, under bridges, in shelter of cars.” This means that 35% of homeless people have children, and some sleep in shelters or cars. All in all, poverty has a major impact on living conditions for everyone.
Not only does poverty affect living conditions, but it also affects one’s education. Poverty can affect education in several ways. For example in the book, The Hunger Games, Poverty affects education. How, Katniss’s sister Prim does not go to school because she has to work to make money. This reveals the implications of poverty because Prim must work to make money rather than getting educated at school. In the book, The Outsiders poverty affects one’s social relationship with the rich people which causes one to kill the other, and when they run away an individual misses months of school. This indicates the ramification of poverty because poverty caused the individual to kill the other, and miss months of school. Once again, In the Hunger games, Rue says, “Don’t you have to be in school,” I ask. “Not during harvest. Everyone works then,” says Rue. This shows the implications that poverty has on education because Rue must miss school to work. In conclusion, poverty has a significant influence on people in poverty.
Poverty also has repercussions on one’s health in several ways. The article “Poverty and health in the United States states, “If you are poor, you are more likely to live in communities with hazardous outdoor and indoor air pollution. Your children are more likely to have elevated lead levels and resultant problems, such as lower IQ scores, and reading levels, attention deficits and behavioral problems.” This means that people in poverty are more likely to be less intelligent due to poverty. The article, “Poverty and health in the United States” also says, “When you are poor you are more likely to be obese. You don’t get enough of the healthy foods and you don’t get good nutrients. You are more likely to be addicted to cigarettes.” Lastly, research states, “If you are poor, you are more likely to develop many illnesses, more likely to become injured, more likely to become disabled, and more likely to die early”(Poverty and Health in the United States.) This means that you basically have a disadvantage in life for being in poverty. Once again poverty shows us its implications.
Lastly, poverty has multiple implications on the treatment of individuals. The article, “Poverty treated as a crime in the U.S.” says, “Being poor in America can quite literally become a crime. Enrenreich recalls the story of a 62-year old homeless Vietnam veteran in a wheelchair who was arrested while sleeping in a homeless shelter because he had an outstanding warrant. His warrant was for criminal trespassing due to the fact that he had been previously caught sleeping in the street. So, in fact, they arrested him for being homeless.” This shows the effects that poverty has on one’s treatment because if he weren’t in poverty he wouldn’t have been treated like that. “Under pressure from her family, she married a man who was also abusive,” says the article, “People in poverty getting treated horrible.” This reveals the implications of poverty by showing us a woman in poverty that was mistreated by her husband. “People who escape poverty are treated as suspects, enemies of the countries,” states, “The people who have worked hard, who have escaped poverty, who have gone through various income levels to become middle class, upper class, rich, wealthy, they all of the sudden have become enemies of the country.” This means that people who actually worked to become wealthy unlike others are treated horribly as if they’ve done something wrong. Poverty affects everything including you.
So far, this essay has shown the implications of poverty. Some may argue that poverty is healthy and not to judge an individual in poverty because they themselves were once in poverty. I disagree with this statement and believe that poverty affects one’s education, living conditions, health, and treatment.
Poverty is not the only struggle that has a negative impact; racism is just harmful. Racism can be defined as something harmful or stereotypical directed to a particular race.
For example, a man named Bruce Lee went through racism, and still overcame it. “If you weren’t white, there was some serious racism in this country [during Lee’s lifetime],” White said. Not only did he break through racism, he took martial arts to another level. Everyone from all races wanted to do it. Bruce Lee overcame racism, and became a world famous role model. But Bruce Lee didn’t learn martial arts to look cool but for himself, he once said, “I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.” This shows that he did not care about what everybody thought of him, but what he thought of himself.
Racism also has implications. The revealing book, Breaking Through proves this in several ways. “Susan’s parents don’t want her to go out with me. Because I am Mexican”(Jimenez, 104). This shows how racism can affect one’s love life; Roberto cannot go out with Susan since he is Mexican. Racism can also make someone feel bad because they are called racist names. Panchito stops bringing taquitos to school because, “They called me chile stomper or tamale wrapper.” This forced Panchito to stop bringing taquitos to school and a bologna sandwich instead. When Panchito goes to high school Panchito’s counselor says, “We have excellent vocational programs in car mechanics, electronics, and wood shop. We also have a program for future farmers.” This shows how his counselor stereotypes him by thinking he wanted to be a farmer, but he really wanted to be a teacher. In conclusion racism can have a major influence in an individuals life.
The movie, 42 which is about the obstacles Jackie Robinson overcomes also reveals racism and its implications. Jackie goes through segregation, and is treated harshly. For example, when Jackie Robinson wanted to use a bathroom at a gas station the owner did not let him use it. Jackie who was an amazing ball player had to play in a “negro” league. Robinson was treated badly by his own team. His team, The Brooklyn Dodgers made a petition to prevent him from joining the team. When Jackie and The Dodgers intended on staying at a hotel out of town they were denied because of Jackie. They didn’t want a “negro” in their hotel. “If you are the first black anything, you can’t be good. Your ass better be miraculous. You have to be unbelievable,” says Alonzo Bodden.
The only reason the owner didn’t let Jackie use it was because of his skin color. He couldn’t play in the major league because he was black. They treated him a different way because of the color of his skin. The Jackie Robinson film, which is about Jackie
Robinson overcoming racism is truly inspiring.
Not only has Jackie Robinson experienced racism and it’s implications, but I have as well. This kid asked me what race I was and I replied “Asian.” Since he knew I was Asian; everyday he would ask if I wanted fried rice and other racist jokes. I told him I was tired of it, but he wouldn’t listen. The implications of this were that I didn’t eat fried rice for a while or any other Asian food. Eventually he stopped. Everybody, including Jackie Robinson, has gone through racism.
Kelly McGonial, health physiologists claims that stress is your friend, and can have positive outcomes, and I’d like to apply her theory to the stressed caused by poverty and racism. She says that people with stress, who think it’s good for them, are healthier. Basically, if you believe stress is healthy for you it will be. Students participated in a “stress test.” This involved students counting backwards from 996 in 7’s. Those who believed stress was positive did a better job than those who believed stress was negative. She also claims that when you believe your body is capable of taking stress, it can. People who spend time caring for others get their stress relieved. People participated in a study by going to an old folks home. Those particular people who cared for the elderly relieved their own stress. By thinking stress is good for you, you are lying to yourself. Anybody counting backwards from 996 would get frustrated. There is a difference between stress and struggle. By thinking your body is capable of taking stress you are just lying to yourself again. By spending time at an old folks home you would feel good about yourself but not stress relieved. I partly agree with her position because some stress may be good, but not all. Being called racial slurs is not going to help you live longer, living in poverty is not going to help you live longer. All in all, Kelly McGonial believes stress can have positive outcomes.
Struggle, specifically poverty and racism is multidimensional and has its implications. This is proven in the book, Breaking Through. Poverty has its implications on living conditions, education, health, and treatment. Overall, this essay has shown the implications of struggle. Some claim struggle is our friend, but it can have negative implications.