In the last few lines of part one of Evicted, we read a conversation between Sherrena and Arleen taking place at the end of a car ride home from housing court. Earlier, in court, the commissioner ruled that Arleen would still have to leave her home, but if she would do so before the new year, Sherrena would receive much less money as a result of a reduced money judgement. The conversation in the car begins with both people having splitting post-court-headaches; Sherrena’s because of her disappointment regarding how court had gone and Arleen’s because of how little she had eaten all day. The conversation ends with Sherrena dropping off Arleen at her soon-to-be-emptied home and saying, “...if you ever thinking about becoming a landlord, don’t. It’s a bad deal. Get the short end of the stick every time.” Arleen replies, “Merry Christmas.”
This scene speaks, with volume, about the apparent differences in priorities between landlords and tenants. Sherrena was, arguably rightfully, upset because she will be getting paid less, but Arleen was upset about losing her home. One would not happen without the other and that is a common thread tying together countless catch-twenty-two’s identified throughout the book. Sherrena is losing money in the sense that she is making less than she had planned, but Arleen is losing a home, and money she doesn’t even have. While both sides have valid points, it is clear where the emotional reader will place their sympathy.
Matthew Desmond has been impressively good at understanding and expressing multiple perspectives throughout the book and that makes each situation a little more difficult to label as right or wrong. He writes about Sherrena’s past as a children’s teacher and constantly mentions her reliance on tenants paying on time in order for her to pay her bills. The book mentions her life as a landlord, but also as a black and female landlord. Outside of business she is portrayed as friendly and affectionate with her tenants. This is contrasted with her ruthless business techniques and knowledge of the system in order to squeeze as much money out of ti as she can, regardless of where the money comes from. This full spectrum is just as conflicting for people like Lamar, who is portrayed at first as a veteran missing two legs, assumably because of combat, until his darker past is revealed. He actually lost his legs because of his addiction to crack and how that led him to be trapped in a frozen building over-night and get frost bite. The same goes for Scott, Teddy’s caretaker in the trailer park. He is simply a chubby, gay, loving man until it is explained that he lost his nursing license because he was caught stealing patients drugs. The book makes it difficult to form a firm opinion which serves as an accurate representation of real life during times of conflict. No one is just one thing and there is a reason for everything. These dynamic characters are trapped in a flawed and seemingly unfix-able system; causing readers to constantly fluctuate between beliefs and truly understand some of the ethical struggles involved in the characters’ lives.