Thursday, April 10, 2008
Weekly Blog
For the past few weeks, we have been finishing up Ragged Dick and watching The Pursuit of Happyness. Now we have started turning our observations from these sources into ideas of our own. After picking a topic for our papers and reading through sources, Kristen and I were wondering if anyone had discovered anything interesting or worth sharing; Maybe some of your research introduced new ideas or perspectives on homelessness, respectability, or the like. Possibly information you found helped erase stereotypes you may have had beforehand. Have you come across anything difficult to handle or that maybe made you want to make a difference in the homeless community? If your research hasn't impacted you, how has it been different than simply reading books and watching movies on the topic? Have you experienced different feelings now that you are working on a narrowed topic in the same general category?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
13 comments:
After reading the story of Ragged Dick, and the scholarly articles of Michael Zuckerman and Carol Nackenoff, my perspectives on how one achieves respectability from rags has been challenged. Originally, I believed that hard work and motivation were the key factors in rising above one’s circumstances and attaining respectability. Working hard towards earning an education, and developing a positive mindset and desire to overcome were the most significant things for the homeless. However, these three texts have all challenged my initial thought, forcing me to cultivate other ideas and understandings.
These three texts discussed how success and respectability is not about acquiring wealth and finances, but about surrendering yourself to others and being of service to them These articles would argue that you must establish relationships and interactions while being able to succumb to others. Helping others will bring help unto you. No matter how hard a person works, if they do not have those personal connections, then their success and resources will only go so far. It’s not about what you know, but rather about who you know. Doors and opportunities to prosper will be opened up unto you if you can dismiss your independence and render your services.
A bit shocked and taken over, I soon realized that Dick certainly portrayed this concept. Dick rendered his services to Frank by showing him, a complete stranger, around New York. He also allowed Fosdick, a homeless bootblack, to room with him. Finally, he rescued a drowning boy from a river, risking his life as well. As a result of these relationships in which Dick went out of his way to establish, he received money, a new suit which had a splendid effect on his appearance, an education and basic knowledge of writing, reading, and mathematics, and a well paid job. Although he did work hard and was extremely motivated, his true success came through these friendships and relationships. These opportunities would not have been offered to him had he not have been of service to others. People made a big difference in his life.
Also, the Pursuit of Happiness portrayed this message as well. Chris Gardner, a homeless man, gave his potential boss five dollars, even when he was in no predicament to loan money to others. He parked his boss’s car when in desperate need of time, seeing that he had an important appointment for his internship. He had loaned a friend fourteen dollars which was a major strain for him and his family. Through it all, he had established relationships, rendering his services to others, even when it was not beneficial for him.
This was a hard concept to grasp, especially over hard work and respectability. I did enjoy exploring different perspectives and outlooks on overcoming homelessness and achieving respectability. These were arguments that people may work hard and be motivated, but simply deprived of relationships which bring about success. It eliminates stereotypes that all homeless are not hard working and offers the idea that they may have not encountered and established relationships that open up opportunities. The research and readings expanded my mind on the concept of overcoming homelessness.
I have always thought of myself as a very accepting and understanding person, I believed that I at least understood or maybe even sympathized with those who live at the fringes of society. My research, concerning the difference between house and home, has led me to the realization that the ‘protestant work ethic’ with which I was raised blinded me from the harsh truths of minimum wage. I was taught that through hard work anything is possible, I was read stories like “Ragged Dick” where the protagonist overcame seemingly impossible obstacles to emerge victorious over his previous social standing. The strokes of luck the character encountered where written so that they would appear as the eventuality of hard work, epitomizing the phrase ‘a real man makes his own luck’. The stories I have read as research illustrate the absurdity of these fairytale storylines; for most, no amount of hard work is enough to create the luck of having a clean and safe place to sleep at night, or to assure that one wouldn’t go hungry for a day because of a lack of money. As a previous resident of California I strongly and vocally opposed the massive increase in the state’s minimum wage to eight dollars an hour, citing the strain it would cause the state’s numerous small business owners. I now realize that even eight dollars an hour is barely enough to make ends meet, not to mention six twenty five; yet I still do not have any inkling as to how we could solve this crisis. Yet the irony is quite painful when I think that as I sit in my dorm room thinking of how one could solve this crisis, my parents are paying more than many people make so I can sit here and theorize.
I have not personally found any extremely new or original perspectives on the matter of homelessness. However, I think the aspect of this research that gets me is the fact that there are so many statistics and thoughts about homelessness and what should be done about it, and why people are homeless, but there never really seems to be anything written about programs or organizations that have succeeded in helping to end homelessness. We all know that there are successful programs such as PHC. However, they are not talked about as much as I feel they should be. I think that if there were more research done about these successful organizations and programs, that maybe we would be able to do even more research about why they are successful. This could lead to more success and less failed attempts at helping the homeless.
Also, in my research, I have noticed that what I read seems more realistic and has more of a meaning to me. This is because I am reading real facts backed up by evidence, and when I read “Ragged Dick” and watched The Pursuit of Happyness, they just seemed fictional. Even though the movie was based on a true story, it still seemed almost like it was an exception and wasn’t reality. When I read “Ragged Dick”, although it did make me think about things like stereotypes and homeless children, it did not seem real or valid either because it was written so long ago. I also thought it was a bit unrealistic because there was so much luck that played a part in the story. So, overall when I read the cold hard facts about the situation today, it seems to have more validity and makes me consider the situation more because I know that it is happening right now in today’s world.
After reading Ragged Dick and watching Pursuit of Happyness along with my research, I have not found a lot of things that are new to me. If anything, having homelessness as a topic on my mind more often has been a very good thing. When I am driving or walking down the street and see a homeless person I think about him/her differently now. In the past I usually would give them a dollar or some spare change, feel good about it, and walk on. Now that homelessness is the prominent topic in a class for me, after I go by that person I cannot help but wonder about their story. How did they become homeless? Did they grow up that way? Did they lose their job or get divorced? Or even worse was it drugs or alcohol that put them on the street? I guess this means the biggest thing that our class assignments have changed about me is they have made me more curious. Not only do I want to help the homeless people I see like normal, but now I want to know more about them.
I have seen The Pursuit of Happyness a few times now but this last time was different. I had just read Ragged Dick and I was thinking about homelessness while I watched the movie. I guess I was able to catch what the director of the movie was trying to portray about homelessness and its stereotypes. Chris was working as hard as he could in the movie and he ended up homeless for a short period of time anyway. Keeping homelessness in mind as I watched helped to me make the connection between work and the inability to have a home. My ideas were challenged and I understand now that homelessness is far more complicated of an issue than it might seem to be. Being homeless might not always be the result of squandered savintgs or substance addiction. Homeless people were just unable to make ends meet.
My research, which focuses mainly on the time period from “Pursuit of Happyness” has revealed several interesting things to me. Mainly, in looking at the financial crisis in the United States, especially in big cities during the early 1980’s it was amazing to see just how easy it was to find your self in trouble. In reading more and more about the recession, increasing housing costs and growing unemployment it was seemed like it would have been hard not to be struggling like Chris Gardner was during this time.
Like both ragged dick and the film, my research has further opened my eyes to the lives of the homeless and their struggle. The more I learn it seems the more I am able to hold back judgments and question the real reason behind someone’s misfortune.
“The Pursuit of Happyness” really made me realize the assumptions that are made about Homeless people may be wrong on many occasions. Chris was a very hard working man which contradicts the stereo-type of a homeless man. I feel as if many people today consider homeless people to be very lazy and dirty. This is a huge misconception made by people. It has made me become more aware of the assumptions that can be made concerning what it means to be homeless. This in turn has also made me realize that I need to keep all assumptions aside when it comes to volunteering for Project Homeless Connect. Many of the people there are most likely going to be high-functioning. Reading Ragged Dick and watching “The Pursuit of Happyness” have allowed me insight into what it actually means to be homeless, and what type of people it can happen to. I thought it was very interesting to see what homelessness may have been like in the past for an adolescent, compared to what it was for a once married father and to see everything crumble as well as the ability to pick himself back up again.
My research has uncovered some of the truths behind the ways to obtain success and how vital it is for someone to receive help from another person. I’m also thinking that maybe I could be a part of that help by volunteering with Project Homeless.
I have learned and though much more about not only homelessness in general, but also how people become homeless, stay homeless, and possibly get out of being homeless. I had never once thought about how people work to try to overcome being homeless. In both Ragged Dick and The Pursuit of Happyness, a homeless person was working extremely hard to get out of their situation. This erased a huge stereotype on my part where I had always thought that homeless were okay with their situation. This is a huge thing when one thinks about homelessness because they are not lazy at all. I have also never put myself in a homeless person's shoes and had never thought about the things that they have to go through on a daily basis. Lastly, I always though about homeless people as an older male, but both of these sources challenged that. I know realize that there are homeless families, children, and women as well. Overall, reading Ragged Dick and watching The Pursuit of Happyness has impacted me more than I ever thought they would and I have become much more knowledgeable about these topics.
I'm always down-town here in denver, and sometimes late at night as well and I've seen a lot of homeless people around on the street corners or in some little hiding spot to sleep in, and once I've seen a pair having sex late at night. So with all these different kinds of exposures I haven't really had the chance to assume the worst things have happened to homeless people or that it was their fault. I've had some conversations with some, a little nervous at first but you get used to it. They are all normal people, they may be smelly or dirty or drunk, but who isn't at some point in their life? As Dr. Suess would say, "People are people no matter how small".
In the past few weeks I have learned many things about the true life of a homeless person. For one that anyone even i can become homeless almost at a blink of an eye. It's so crazy how a simple movie like the Pursuit of Hapyness can change someones mind, or at least mine. Before actually watching this film i had no clue that many homeless people are trying as hard as they can to climb the social ladder and make something of themselves. It made me think of how many children are going threw this at this exact moment, and I wonder how their parents might blame themselves for not having a roof over their head.
how much they must be struggling to even have something to eat. I have come across many homeless people. I have seen them in the corners of the busiest streets in Denver begging for money or even food. I cannot say i have tried to help all whom I come across with but I do help when I can, with what I can. Something that has impacted me recently which in my view is way past wrong was someone not so long ago in the news, a woman, who was pretending to be homeless. She would park her car near the corner she frequently most likely everyday was begging for money saying she had kids and that they were homeless and that she needed money to feed them. The police eventually found out she was lying when they towed her car for parking in a restricted place. I guess not all homeless people out their are pretending and really need the help but no one really knows. No one really knows if someone out there is really in a desperation because they need the money to feed their hungry children. No one knows who out there is like ragged Dick who is very honest and hard working homeless person.
After watching the movie The Pursuit of Happyness and reading the book Ragged Dick, my views about homelessness haven’t changed. My views haven’t changed because I’ve seen the movie many times before and the book didn’t influence me that much because it didn’t introduce any new revelations about homelessness for me. Then from doing research for my topic regarding false interpretations of homelessness, I have found that there is plenty of information regarding homelessness but the difficult part is trying to narrow down the search results to focus on the main topic. The search engines offered through Penrose Library have been either helpful or very hard to use and no help at all. Sometimes I have found it difficult to find sources for my paper but then I realize that it is such a luxury to be able to search through legitimate sources on the Internet than having to physically go to the library to check out a book to find sources.
My apologies for being behind on responding to your comments. (Grading papers, what can I say?) But I'm impressed by the many different ways our course material has prompted you all to think either about homelessness or the research we're doing to help you interpet these texts. I hope we continue to have as rich of reflections as these. Thanks!
Ragged Dick and the research I have been engaged in to write this paper have affected deeply the way I look at the issues of homelessness as well as the concepts of respectability and dignity. As I was looking for what interested me the most about the research I did, it occurred to me that perhaps the most disturbing of the things I had found was the adverse effects that homelessness and poverty can often lead to. The developmental inhibitions that are implemented often create an individual who cannot, again, function as a stable productive member of society. Its so so to see when poverty can be self-perpetuating especially when children are involved because they are robbed of any chance in society. In Muccino's film, The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner's son is lucky to have a diligent and hard-working father who ultimately perseveres, as we begin to see how the stresses of homelessness begin to wear on him.
Post a Comment