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Microblog #4 - Evicted


As I continue reading Evicted, by Matthew Desmond, I’m beginning to discover more and more social issues arising.  Typically, Desmond only uses a moderate amount of dialogue, but after several pages of arguing between two residents, Arleen and Crystal, Arleen yells, “You don’t know what it’s like to have your father molest you and your mother not care about it!” (Desmond 194).  Crystal then responds, “Yes, I do! I know exactly what that’s like ‘cause my stepfather molested me when I was just a little girl, and that’s why they sent me to foster care” (Desmond 194).

After this, Arleen and Crystal (momentarily) overcome their differences and forgive each other.  While it was initially difficult for me to read the dialogue that preceded these statements because of the grammatical errors (improper English), Desmond does an excellent job of portraying human suffering, which is something I'm going to be talking about in my next blog post (so stay tuned!)  Of course, there are light-hearted moments, such as when the text states, “‘When you look at Jesus, what do you see?’ Larraine asked Betty. ‘A hottie,’ Betty replied without missing a beat” (Desmond 225). Of course, these moments are few and far between because, after all, this is a devastating book about poverty.

This is my last microblog, and I’d like to urge anyone who’s reading this to buy Evicted by Matthew Desmond.  It combines the best of both worlds with both narrative and facts, and really opens up a new kind of book!

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