Jacob Riis' How the Other Half Lives is a non fiction, historically accurate account of the poverty and tenement housing in New York City's Lower East Side. In comparison to our other readings, I found it very helpful to get an in depth view of the conditions that many immigrants faced upon coming to America. Riis' article proved to be a bit more arduous to get through because it did not use any sort of humor or comedic relief to draw its readers in. However, I did find that the tragic reality that so many people during the 19th century horrifying. Riis' article looked at the "Genesis of the Tenement," as well as the different types of diseases that these people were exposed to and the virtually unlivable conditions of the tenement houses. Like Twain and Crane, Riis' constructs poverty throughout the course of his book to pain a picture of loss and deprivation. Furthermore, although all three authors approach the subject of "rich and poor" within America in very different ways, after reading Riis' article, they all seem to center on the same issues regarding money. Extreme poverty, as seen in Crane and Riis, and even extreme wealth, as seen in Twain can cause a lack of family or domestic life, a decline in health (mental and physical), a downfall in an employment and economic system, as well as an obsession with social climbing and survival.
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