Chapter 23: The Man with the Knife
Introduction:
The chapter discusses a man who has a knife and attacks a couple of kids who are hungry for food. He is arrested and put in jail. Riis uses this opportunity to speak about poverty. Riis speaks about the differing attitudes about poverty. He speaks about a Christian who says that people who are greedy cannot know God's love because they have been nurtured by the greedy.
Summary:
As a carriage went by hungry children ran towards it begging for food. The carriage did not stop, and as it went by a man in the ally emerged. He was pulled out a knife which he was carrying, and attacked the children. This man was quickly arrested. It is assumed that he is put in a mad-house. This man driven is driven by his poverty, and because of that Riis begins to address poverty. There are two main views regarding poverty addressed in the chapter. The first is that many well meaning people think that situation of those living in the tenements are not as bad as they are made out to be. Those with that opinion support it by saying that the death rates of the tenements are lower than the rates of the town as a whole. He mentions that they look nice from the outside, but you have to get beneath the surface to actually know what happens in them. The second theory is that if the love of god was introduced to those living in the tenements then they would not run through the streets wielding weapons. The problem with introducing god’s love to the needy is that they are filled with greed. This greed is what is causing their evil actions, and until they separate themselves from their greed progress will not happen.
Bibliography
Riis, Jacob. How the Other Half Lives. New York: Penquin Books Ltd., 1890.
Riis, Jacob. How the Other Half Lives. New York: Penquin Books Ltd., 1890.