What is Poverty

 Introduction 

This essay "What is poverty ?" has been written by Jo Goodwin Parker an anonymous person from West Virginia, the Southern United States. Parker mailed her essay to George Henderson, preferring that the editor present no byline. George Henderson, a professor at the University of Oklahoma, received it while he was writing his 1971 book, America’s Other Children: Public Schools Outside Suburbia.

It was signed “Jo Goodwin Parker”. No further information was ever discovered about the essay or its source. Whether the author of this essay was in reality a woman describing her own painful experiences or a sympathetic writer who had adopted her persona, Jo Goodwin Parker remains a mystery. So in keeping with the spirit of its initial publication, Parker’s essay is kept here without any biographical data about its author.

This personal essay 'What is Poverty?' is about Parker who has personally experienced rural poverty. She explains her story from childhood to adulthood. Her struggles are overwhelming. Using examples drawn from personal experience, she explains the meaning of poverty in this essay. Her use of connotative language creates many harsh images of her experiences in a life of poverty illustrating the difficulties and challenges her impoverished family experiences. The essay is a personal account, addressed directly to the reader, about living in poverty.

 SUMMARIZING  THE  ESSAY

In this personal essay, the writer has talked about various aspects of poverty. She has given a real and graphic account of what is being poor actually means on a daily basis. For her, the poverty is more ugly, cruel and devastating than it is mentioned in newspaper. She has defined poverty as a lack-that is living without hope, better foodstuffs, medicinal care, proper sanitation and proper education. It is like an acid that destroys pride, honour, health and future. Parker’s main purpose is to show how shameful, humiliating and disgusting it is to be a poor. She wants to draw the readers’ attention towards the pathetic state of the poor people. She wants her readers to know about poverty without showing pity over her. 

The writer begins the essay asking the readers what poverty is. Parker describes herself as “dirty, smelly, and living life with no proper underwear on and with rotten teeth which stink much”. She says poverty is getting up every morning from a dirt and illness stained mattress. There is smell of so many things like urine, sour milk, spoiling food, rotten garbage. It is so due to poverty. 

Poverty is being tired. Poor people have to live restless life looking at the dark future of their children. When she had her last baby, she suffered from anaemia due to poor diet. The doctor advised her for operation but she didn't have money.

Once she left her children under her mother's  care. But, when she returned home, she found her kids in a very pitiable condition. Her youngest son was covered with fly specks and his diaper hadn’t been changed since morning. Her next kid was playing with broken glasses and the oldest son was playing alone at the edge of the lake. She didn’t have enough income to admit them at a nursery school. She had to pay up 20 dollars a week for three children to admit them. But, her income was 22 dollars only. For the sake of children's care, she decided to quit her job.

Poverty is dirt. Anybody can be clean but money is needed. She used to provide cornbread without oil as a breakfast to her kids. She used to wash dishes with cold water without using soap. She didn't buy soap in order to buy her baby's diaper. She even didn't buy Vaseline for her hands and the baby's diaper rash. She says fuel, firewood, electricity and everything need money that she can’t afford.

 She suffers a lot due to her poverty. She struggled hard alone to care her children. She faced various hardships to care her children during cold and summer seasons' days and nights. It's difficult for her to run her family on a daily basis. For her, running life on a daily basis itself is a great challenge. 

Poverty is asking for help. She says the situation how one feels at the time of asking for loan or help from others for the children.  It is shameful to explain the poverty  every time with different people. 

The writer has described about various events which happened to her because of poverty. She left the school because rich people’s children used to tease her all the time in the school because her poor clothes and smell. 

She remembered being married. She was young. For a time, they had all the things. There was a little house in another town, with hot water and everything. She became pregnant many times because birth control was expensive for her. They even didn't  have money to buy contraceptives to prevent unwanted birth. After her last baby, her married life was destroyed. 

Poverty breaks relationship. Parker had three children. Her husband left her due to the poverty. He didn't have regular job. He left all of them due to the burden of family. He left home without  saying goodbye. 

She describes that due to the high cost of essential things as hot water, soap, medicine and clothing, she doesn't have luxuries in her life. She informs all her readers through her writing that it is difficult to get help from government agencies' programmes. Parker explains that her job even doesn't support her to get out of her situation because the job does not pay enough to pay for the expense of child care.

Parker writes that “poverty is looking into a black future” and states that her children have no future. Her children can’t play with other children of rich people. Her children can’t get good education as they lack basic needs like books, pencils for it. They are suffering from many things. They don’t have good health as they can’t sleep well and suffer from malnutrition. She says her children will be damaged by the time they get to school. 

There are health clinics but far from her place. She can’t go there easily with her children. She can get help from her neighbour but he expects to get paid. He also makes bad comments.  He complains about the government spending money on the immoral mothers of illegitimate children. 

Poverty is an acid that destroys pride, honour, health and future of people. Even the poor can dream of a time when there is money. Money is necessary for many things. The help related programmes for poor people by government agencies never exist in her area. She wants to get help through various agencies but it is difficult to get right person. She has to prove her poverty time and again. 

What she get in her life is despair everywhere. She is angry. She says the poor are always silent. In this situation, none can expect a good future. Parker does not want sympathy, but rather she wants an understanding of her readers about poverty.