Alex Kowlowitzs The Other America - Book Report/Review Example

Most of the children at Suder are behind for their age. The budget for the school is not large enough to provide enough teachers such that there are too many children in one classroom. The older of the two boys, Lafayette, acts like little father by worrying about his younger bothers' and sisters' well being, who their friends are and if they are ducking bullets properly in the hallway. Lafayette kept a watchful eye on his brother Pharaoh who was weaker and timid. Lajoe, the mother, looked up to him because of her husband Paul's absence.

Lajoe said, "The things I should be telling Paul about, I was talking to Lafie, I put him in a bad place. But I didn't have anyone to talk to. Lafie became a twelve year old man that day." This explains the title for the book that tells about childhood being snatched too early because of problems early in life. Pharaoh was much different from Lafayette. He had more of a child's innocence than most kids in the housing projects. Often times he had a hard time coping with his environment which lead to him stuttering, and sometimes he could not speak at all.

His mother always tried to protect him from the tension of life in the projects. In time, the deaths and arrest of friends started to take his innocence away. This book traces the lives of these boys for about a five year period. When the book ended, September of 1989, the boys were 12 and 15. At this age, the choices and the pressures to get involved with drugs and gangs are so forceful that many give way, just because there was nothing else better to do.Perception of consumption. The family in this book is strikingly poor -living on the welfare program in the US.

After rent is paid and food is bought to last the entire month, there is little money left over to buy extras like toiletries or footwear. It is clear that this family is not taking advantage of the welfare system, however, but barely making due. Without the welfare check, the family would be without food. The boys' mother, LaJoe, could not get a job because she has so many children to take care of and has very limited job skills.The story shows that there are thousands of other children across the country just like them.

Their environment is like a prison they cannot escape from as it is their home. They are living on welfare and they have no choice but only to survive the elements in the environment. It is a congested place where one dwells - with lack of education opportunities and employment opportunities, illegal means of livelihood, much daydreaming, and lawlessness all rolled into one. What mainly pass on and keep them active are gangs and drugs. There is no need to advertise drugs with them. If they don't choose to be users, they can sell and make money and it is tempting to do so.

Poor people lived in the segregated ghettos. As consumers, they are unemployed, but they also contribute to the economy in that it is the government buying food for them. They consume stuff that employed people supply; in that manner they help keep other people employed. Mainly, however, they are seen as deadweight who drag down an economy's productivity. In other words, people in the ghettoes are a productive asset that are not being utilized. Economists would like to see such people get a job. If they,