Chapter 22: The Wrecks and the Waste
Intro:
Life in the tenements was notoriously horrendous even under the best of circumstances. For those that were unlucky enough to fall below the norm of stability, that life melted into a living hell. Chapter 22 illustrates the dangerous reality of the most unstable situtations within the tenements. In it, the inhabitants of asylums, almshouse, and hospitals are brought to the attention of the reader, and as such, the darkest happenstances of the tenements are brought to life.
Summary:
The chapter begins by Riis first brushing upon the hospital, overflowing with 'helpless human wrecks', and then giving greater detail to the penitentiary. Within the chapter, Riis speaks of the convicts, desperate for drugs and often humiliated by the wardens. The workhouse follows, where 'Work, but not too much work,' is what Riis claims as the motto. He speaks of the fact that thousands are seemed to be needed for what two men could easily do.
He moves next to the almhouse and speaks of rows of elderly women, working away and simultaneously tormenting their warden with generally crotchety behaviour. When Riis tells the almhouse warden that he's only there for a picture of the women, the man is so disgusted with being left again in solitude that he throws up his hands and walks away. Riis reflects that the almhouse is full of people who were thrown there by heartless children, and that they were all pitifully poor.
Next Riis speaks of the women's asylum. He articulates upon rows and rows of women clad in grey, and then upon those that are bound in chains. The ones in chains are those of suicidial thoughts. Riis gives several anecdotal recollections of his time there, and then speaks of the numbers. In 1889, there were nearly 5,000 caught between the walls for the city's insane. Even those that will someday be brought back from the house of the insane will never be quite whole again -- they are, indeed, wasted.
Finally, Riis looks to what he calls the alcoholic cells off the shore of the East River. Almost 3,700 have made waste of their lives through this situation. Riis ends the chapter with more numbers, speaking of the cost -- over 7 million dollars -- wasted to maintain those in the army of paupers, criminals, and the sick poor, and the numbers -- over 138,000 soulsm
Bibliography
Riis, Jacob. How the Other Half Lives. New York: Penquin Books Ltd., 1890.
Life in the tenements was notoriously horrendous even under the best of circumstances. For those that were unlucky enough to fall below the norm of stability, that life melted into a living hell. Chapter 22 illustrates the dangerous reality of the most unstable situtations within the tenements. In it, the inhabitants of asylums, almshouse, and hospitals are brought to the attention of the reader, and as such, the darkest happenstances of the tenements are brought to life.
Summary:
The chapter begins by Riis first brushing upon the hospital, overflowing with 'helpless human wrecks', and then giving greater detail to the penitentiary. Within the chapter, Riis speaks of the convicts, desperate for drugs and often humiliated by the wardens. The workhouse follows, where 'Work, but not too much work,' is what Riis claims as the motto. He speaks of the fact that thousands are seemed to be needed for what two men could easily do.
He moves next to the almhouse and speaks of rows of elderly women, working away and simultaneously tormenting their warden with generally crotchety behaviour. When Riis tells the almhouse warden that he's only there for a picture of the women, the man is so disgusted with being left again in solitude that he throws up his hands and walks away. Riis reflects that the almhouse is full of people who were thrown there by heartless children, and that they were all pitifully poor.
Next Riis speaks of the women's asylum. He articulates upon rows and rows of women clad in grey, and then upon those that are bound in chains. The ones in chains are those of suicidial thoughts. Riis gives several anecdotal recollections of his time there, and then speaks of the numbers. In 1889, there were nearly 5,000 caught between the walls for the city's insane. Even those that will someday be brought back from the house of the insane will never be quite whole again -- they are, indeed, wasted.
Finally, Riis looks to what he calls the alcoholic cells off the shore of the East River. Almost 3,700 have made waste of their lives through this situation. Riis ends the chapter with more numbers, speaking of the cost -- over 7 million dollars -- wasted to maintain those in the army of paupers, criminals, and the sick poor, and the numbers -- over 138,000 soulsm
Bibliography
Riis, Jacob. How the Other Half Lives. New York: Penquin Books Ltd., 1890.