1.0 Finishing
Evicted
a.Things we did not expect in the
book:
o
Sachia
Chin Loy - “I was surprised to find out
that the author’s landlord for the duration
of
his time in Milwaukee, was Sherrena and Quentin Tarver.”
(Sherrena Tarver - landlord
with rental properties on Milwaukee’s poor black South Side)
-
That allows him to be close to the
people he is observing
-
Must
be hard to experience the
stories that happened with the landlords, while also
dealing with
the same landlords.
-
Does
this become an inner struggle
as the stories started to develop?
- How old is Arleen?
o
Mykaela
Scarpace - “I thought that the epilog was interesting because he spoke about
his stance on what was happening during the
time he developed the project.”
-
There are some points of the book
where you can see the author steps
in, because of the situation.
-
This
part of the book was helpful to really understand how he felt during the time
he was there, to really develop and back up the stories
that were written.
-
He
did a good job being impartial throughout the novel.
o
Tyler
Winslow – “Surprised that when Pam and Ned were looking for a house, that if
they
should say how many children they had it
could hinder them getting a
house.”
(Pam - College
Mobile Home Park resident and mother of four daughters)
(Ned - Pam’s boyfriend; motorcycle repairman)
(Ned - Pam’s boyfriend; motorcycle repairman)
-
Understanding
when it comes to housing people don’t really care
about children, but children also
need a roof under their heads to.
-
The
class overwhelmingly were sad about the situation of the kids.
- Without help, the children will not have the opportunity to live better
lives then what they were born in.
The big take-away from this conversation on the unexpected actions in
the novel were narrowed down to the developing problems throughout the novel. The
main issue that the book is attacking is housing, but the class discovered a
lot of other underlying issues that affect the overlying problem. There was a
huge conversation about Matthew Desmonds view of what he experienced, how
living with landlords that are a huge part of the story effected the novel. These
things that we take for granted, like a roof over our head, food, and clothes,
are a struggle for all the people in this book, but the class didn’t expect
children to be discarded as easy as they were.
My
Opinion (what I didn’t expect)
- The story gets you invested in the characters,
what they do and how they do it. Matthew Desmond writes the book in parts which
I think is successful because it splits the stories and reveals little by
little of the characters. Developing my, the love hate relationship with these characters,
that confused me when I got to the end of the book. What was unexpected was the
level of psychological questioning of the characters morals/ethics that we do
as readers but that the characters to themselves.
b.The Rap Up:
o
The
stories of Scott and Arleen Bell rap up very differently, Scott is doing good.
He has a steady job and has stopped using substances. Arleen is still struggling,
and bouncing from house to house.
(Arleen Bell - Rented home on 13th Street from Sherrena
Tarver)
(Scott - 39-year-old
former nurse and recovering addict; College Mobile Home Park resident)
-
Similarities
and Differences
- Arleen
has kids
- Scott
has been in a good spot and he knows that it is possible,
and can keep a job, and he was nurse.
- Scott
has access to different kinds of help
- Arleen does not have any help. (mental health
as well is a huge issue)
o
It
is easy to make a program to give people access to a precise thing that will
help solve the problem, but what happens if there are some many problems, that
one solution can’t solve all these things.
-
Mostly
a cash economy so where is the cash stashed
o
Rental
rates - in relation to more wealthy areas, there is no limit to what landlords
can charge, the difference between low and high income area is only about $50.
Tobin Charney makes 440,000 after everything so why doesn’t he help some family’s
out. There are different levels of survival, what is the judgement of what
someone is supposed to have or not have?
(Tobin Charney - Owner
and landlord of the College Mobile Home Park; lives 70 miles away in Skokie, IL)
-
Landlords
are directly involved with their lively hood
The big take-away from the book for the class is how broken the system is. We went back an fourth, wondering if there is a solution for the system. Half of the class thought that Matthew Desmonds idea of a coupon like food stamps has the potential to work, developing a way for people to have a place and not be as worried to where they will live next. The other half thought that there is to much to fix at one time and certain things would have to change first, before any action could take place to solve evictions.
My Opinion (what I didn’t expect) - I didn't expect how the stories that the author explored ended in both good and bad ways. I had more of a connection to the people in this book and humanity gets in the way.
c.
What Happens After the Book?
o
Author
makes money of the book.
- Should he give some money back?
o
He
is monetizing the struggles of other people
-
(How
the Other Half lives by Jacob Riis)
o
Matthew
Desmond created the Evicted Book Foundation you can donate to the family’s
directly or to the foundation.
