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Landlord And Tenant Chapter Summary

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The chapters 1-4 explain the relationship between a landlord and a tenant by sharing their experiences. When I read these different stories, I understood the side of a landlord and the tenant. The author is doing that intentionally because sociologically Desmond uses descriptive words to make readers feel like landlords and tenets through the experiences of the people in the book. For example, Lamar has no legs and was denied SSI because he "recalls being told, he could still work in his condition (24)." The social system SSI has regulations but they use those to their advantage to turn away people who are in need of help. Personnel's who are in charge/work in SSI don't take the time to evaluate each situation, I believe they denied Lamar because …show more content…

I had mixed feelings about her at first because I thought she was irresponsible. As I kept reading I noticed my opinion shift due to the lack of information I didn't have when I started reading chapter 4. At first, I knew Pam lived in the trailer park but as I read more I understood how she ended up in Tobin's trailer park. "When Pam and Ned arrived at College Mobile Home Park, Tobin and Lenny offered them the "Handyman Special," a free mobile home (46)." After reading Pam's story I grew empathy for her because she came from a line of addicts, which shows that drugs are what she knows best. I also made an observation that Pam has always been controlled by men. Ultimately, she is at fault for her actions but every man in her life have brought her closer to drug use. Pam's dad was a drug user and seller, Pam's first boyfriend who had two daughters with her was also a drug user and seller. Finally, Ned introduced Pam to selling which landed her in jail for 10 months. Now Pam is homeless, financially struggling and pregnant with her third child. I feel for her and understand why she is there, sociologically the family normality of the U.S. has failed

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