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Published in 1890, Jacob Riis’s remarkable study of the horrendous living conditions of the poor in New York City had an immediate and extraordinary impact on society, inspiring reforms that affected the lives of millions of people. Riis’s reliance on specific, hard facts as weapons of social criticism pioneered the style of crusading journalism that continues today. Photos throughout .
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Yes, the tales in this book are depressing. Yes, they are still happening even today. But, Riis’s writing style is quite sensantionalist, it had me rolling my eyes every paragraph or so. And he is quite prejudice against a whole multitude of races and religions. Again, yes I know this was written in 1890, but the sheer volume of his judgement against other cultures, etc. really took me out of the core tales of the conditions of the people detailed in the book.
A honest amount of the book had me interested, it’s just the way the tales were told made me not be able to disgest their content very well.
Rating: 2 / 5
[Reply]
This book, How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis, had several very distinct themes. First, the life of immigrants to New York City in the late 1800s was deplorable while housing for others was splendid. “To-day three fourths of its people live in the tenements, and the nineteenth century drift of the population to the cities is sending ever-increasing multitudes to crowd them” (Riis, p. 6) Sections of tenement houses were divided by streets and alleys which divided the nationalities. “As emigration from east to west follows the latitude, so does the foreign influx in New York distribute itself along certain well-defined lines that waver and break only under the stronger pressure of a more gregarious race or the encroachments of inexorable business.” (Riis, p. 21) Each nationality had some very distinct characteristics but they also had some very fantastic differences as well.
The next theme to emerge was that of work. In some sections of the city, it was acceptable for everyone to work while in other sections, only the men did physical work while the women “kept house” or there was even mention of the men just standing in doorways, streets and alleys. “The men sit or stand in the streets, on trucks, or in the open doors of the saloons smoking black clay pipes, talking and gesticulating as if forever on the point of coming to blows.” (Riis, p. 49) Money was earned, at very small rates throughout the tenements, by someone in the family, if not multiple people. “Often there are two, sometimes three, sets of sweaters on the job. They work with the rest when they are not drumming up trade, driving their `hands’ as they drive their machine, for all they are worth, and making a profit on their work, of course, though in most cases not nearly as extravagant a percentage, probably, as is often supposed. If it resolves itself unto a margin of five or six cents, or even less, on a dozen pairs of boys’ trousers, for instance, it is nevertheless enough to make the contractor with his thrifty instinct independent. The workman growls, not at the hard labor or poor pay, but over the pennies another is coining out of his sweat, and on the first opportunity turns sweater himself, and takes his revenge by driving an even closer bargain than his rival tyrant, t his reducing his profits.” (Riis, p 94)
Finally, the third theme centered on bringing about change via real people, real tales and images of real life in the tenements. “Riis made maximum use of photographs, but, not only to illustrate six of his books, but also as lantern slides to illustrate lectures he started giving in 1888 and continued until his death.” (Riis, p. xvii) People are drawn to real life situations to which they can relate. The accounts, photographs and images of Riis bring real life accounts to the reader, sparking more interest, making a deeper relationship between the characters in the tale and the reader. And by doing so, Riis encourages others to take action to remedy the sad situation.
As the previous themes are analyzed, connections can be made between them and education and society of today. It is vital to first note that in today’s society, there are still sections in certain towns and cities that are divided predominantly by ethnic diversity. Not only is housing situations but also in educational systems the divisions are found, although it is encouraged that the lines be broken down. “The many philanthropic efforts that have been made in the last few years to render less intolerable the lot of the tenants in the homes where many of them must continue to live, have undoubtedly had their effect in making a disposition to accept better things, that will make plainer sailing for the future builders of model tenements., In many ways, as in the `College Settlement’ of courageous girls, the Neighborhood Guilds, through the efforts of The King’s Daughters, and numerous other schemes of practical mission work, the poor and the well-to-do have been brought closer together, in an every-day companionship that cannot but be productive of the best results, to the one who gives no less than tto the one who receives.” (Riis, p. 207) Obviously different locales call for difference measures of tolerance and defend certain levels of intolerance but the lines exist nonetheless. “The experience of this landlord points directly to the remedy which the law failed to supply to the early reformers. It has since been fully demonstrated that a competent agent on the premises, a man of the best and the highest stamp, who knows how to instruct and guide with a firm hand, is a prerequisite to the success of any reform tenement scheme.” (Riis, p. 205)
Secondly, work was vital in this book. Riis did an brilliant job of documenting the working conditions and who was responsible for certain jobs in the tenements in each section. Just as Benjamin Franklin valued an honest day’s work, so did the people of the tenements. The largest difference between those two accounts of work was who was really responsible for the work. Depending upon the culture of the area sometimes it was the men, women or children, or all three, that completed work to earn money or keep house. “Men, women and children work together seven days in the week in these cheerless tenements to make a living for the family, from the break of day till far into the nights. Often the wide is the original cigarmaker from the ancient home, the husband having adopted her trade here as a matter of necessity, because, knowing no word of English, he could get no other work.” (Riis, p. 105) But how did people in this situation become educated to work? “The ancient question, what to do with the boy, assumes a new and serious phase in the tenements. Under the best conditions found there, it is not easily answered. In nine cases out of ten he would make an brilliant mechanic, if trained early to work at a trade, for he is neither full nor slow, but the small-sighted despotism of the trades unions has practically closed that avenue to him. Trade-schools, but brilliant, cannot supply the opportunity thus denied him. Home, the greatest factor of all in the training of the young, means nothing to him but a pigeon-hole in a coop along with so many other human animals. Its influence is scarcely of the elevating kind, if it have any….With no steady hand to guide him, the boy takes naturally to idle ways.” (Riis, p. 136)
Finally, it is vital to note the third theme of bringing reality into the lives of the reader. In education today, it is vital to show real life application of concepts and thoughts for learning to take place. Riis was a pioneer in bringing photographs, real images and valid data to people to make a felt need for change and response. Most photographs in the book are very dark and only add realism to the tales told. For example, the photographs on pages 93, 104 appear very dark and the subjects miserable. The fact that Riis was probably standing, himself, in the darkest part of the room and photographing the lightest part of the room, near the windows, only tells the reader that even in the lightest part of the room, the darkness and dreariness ruled over the tenements. “Riis’s use of photography to point his words and flesh out his anecdotes is no less vital, endowing an entire legacy of its own.” (Riis, p. xiii)
I believe the intent of the author was to simply bring a huge picture view to narrow minded people. He very much accomplished his purpose. By using tales of families, shocking details and everyday photographs of real people, he was able to bring people to know the reality of life in their own city and encourage them to help make changes. It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and Riis is a prime example of this. Not only are his accounts vivid and horrific, but also his images leave nothing to the imagination. The reader can not be left to imagining a rosier picture than was intended. The illustrations both verbal and nonverbal are graphic and moving.
The appropriate audience for this book would have to be very broadly, mature, adult citizens of our world. The language used in this book can be, at times, a bit complicated to comprehend; this is why I believe it appropriate for mature adults. I also believe very firmly that adults are sometimes the most hard to convince to take action to help those less fortunate or those in need. When we read real life accounts and see pictures of people just like us in deplorable conditions, it is hard for us to sit back and take no action. I also believe it is vital for citizens of our world to know the underlying message of helping those less fortunate or those in need who may be right in our own back yard. This book is a stunning example of one man giving factual accounts of events to produce concerned citizens ready to take action to improve conditions for fellow human beings.
Rating: 2 / 5
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I really reckon this book was interested. we had to read it in our english class and everyone seemed to like it alot.I reckon that what they did to the peolpe was incorrect and people should not be treated in such terrible manners like that. I woyld not last long in there life time i would end up dead in a few days. I wish there was something someone could of did for those helpless people. I know that I had the chance I would help them live in an enviorment best for them.
thank you
amanda brayton
Rating: 5 / 5
[Reply]
“Pitiful as these are, sights and sounds infinitely more saddening await us beyond the gate that shuts this world of woe off from one whence the light of hope and reason have gone out together” (p 193).
Like a ghost out of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Jacob Riis tours the reader through the nightmare existence in the New York City slums of the 1800’s. Although, as Luc Sante states in his introduction, Riis’ sole purpose for writing this book is to “call attention to the horrendous living conditions of the poor in New York City and insist on reform” (p ix), Riis also presents another underlying theme by unequivocally proving that the more people isolate themselves from the rest of the world, the better chance there is for yucky victimization of those less fortunate: simplistically speaking, the rich get richer; the poor get poorer; the wider the gap grows in between (dispersion of our so-called middle class.)
Riis’ talent lies in his use of poetically descriptive language, saturated with metaphor and alliteration, alongside contrasting factual accounts of harsh reality. The reader is mesmerized by the rhythmic sound of lines such as “Down near the Battery the West Side emerald would be soiled by a dirty stain, spreading rapidly like a splash of ink on a sheet of blotting paper” (p 25), but then shocked by the stark conditions of tenement life as given in the form of personal tales, photographs, legislation, statistics, and blueprints. Riis writes about the windowless, airless rooms and the unbelievably filthy crowded living conditions. He recounts tales of bitter violence toward children and between the races, as well as degradation and oppression among women, the ancient, and the infirm. The reader is sickened with wretched tales of infanticide and mortality rates among the children.
Riis unapologetically interjects his novel with stereotypical remarks and his own bigoted opinions of the people inhabiting the various ethnically divided “wards.” Some of his include those such as “between the dull gray of the Jew, his favorite color, and the Italian red, would be seen squeezed in on the map a sharp streak of yellow, marking the narrow boundaries of Chinatown” (p 24), and “poverty, abuse, and injustice alike the negro accepts with imperturbable cheerfulness…He likes fine clothes and excellent living a excellent deal more than he does a bank account” (p 117).
Through the obviously prejudicial film that covers Riis’ novel from beginning to end, the reader is able to perceive a sense of his right passion of wanting to make a positive difference in society. His previous stereotypical remarks about African Americans are somewhat softened when he later comments on the injustice towards them:
“…when the account is made up between the races, it shall be claimed that he falls small of the result to be expected from twenty-five years of freedom, it may be well to turn to the other side of the ledger and see how much of the blame is borne by the prejudice and greed that have kept him from rising under a burden of responsibility to which he could hardly be equal” (p 119).
Riis is an example of a pioneer whose work, sacrifice, and commitment have shaped our country and our world. By educating the public through his journalistic indictments, he provided the catalyst for the ensuing slow process of reform. What places Riis on a higher level than others who have written exposés is the fact that he not only provided what he thought to be the main causes for the deplorable situation of tenement life, but also provided an outline of a well thought out plot for improvement that included detailed legislation, floor plans for remodeling, and sound economical postulations. Luc Sante states that Riis does not “inquire very deeply into the causes of the conditions he describes” (p xi), but one can logically infer very plainly many individual causes and effects that ultimately affect the whole, such as greed, yucky lack of education of a whole segment of society, a government and society who chose not to care (or may have felt it did not have the time or resource to care,) growth of nation that was infinitely more vast than expected, depression, oppression, and inertia (on both ends of the class spectrum.)
Riis’ book is not only a ghost from the past, but also a ghost from the present that haunts our country and our world today. One can still see economically imbalanced conditions that contribute to the growing lower class. Insightful remarks made over one hundred years ago make one disgusted to realize that seemingly small has been learned:
“Nothing is now better understood than that the rescue of the children is the key to the problem of city poverty, as presented for our solution to-day; that a character may be formed where to reform it would be a hopeless task” (p 139).
This book should be read for the beauty of the prose, the horror of the content, and the insight to be gained from both. Riis succeeds in showing the reader that our world is a unit existing of one: indeed one world. Riis presents an inarguably complete and comprehensive exposition of “how the other half lives.”
Rating: 4 / 5
[Reply]
In How the Other Half Lives (originally published in 1890), Jacob Riis gives an astounding account of 19th century life in the tenements of New York City, where poverty, filth, disease, alcoholism, theft, and darkness prevail. Through his writing, statistics, and photography, Riis draws attention to unthinkable living conditions ignored too long by those better off than the tenants occupying New York’s slums.
In Luc Sante’s introduction to the book, he summarizes Riis’ view as, “the poor were victims rather than makers of their fate” (Riis, 1997). How this rings right as one reads through the pages. Riis gives the reader a better understanding of why generations of tenement occupants are trapped in a rut of constant strife and struggle, without education or means to rise above. The dense immigrant population of New York’s tenements led to a very limited and low-paying job market, typically that of sweatshop labor. With the problems of the tenements came saloons, gangs, thieves, orphaned babies and other societal issues. The conditions of the tenements expanded the divide between New York’s classes of citizens.
Many of New York City’s poor worked from dusk till midnight daily, only to earn starving wages which barely allowed them to feed and clothe their families or pay overpriced rent to wealthy landlords. Their circumstances did not afford them time for learning, particularly the English language. Without learning, financial savings, or often a job, these impoverished families could not escape the tenement properties and their resulting miserable way of life. Riis describes it best as “the poor are what the tenements have made them” (Riis, 1997).
Riis provides several proven recommendations for improving New York’s poverty situation caused by the tenements such as remodeling or building new tenements and instituting “honest play between landlord and tenant” (1997). He cites a few examples of landlords who reformed their properties and worked collaboratively with their tenants to successfully improve their lives.
Riis’ answer to the problems of the tenements is “all a matter of education,” education of landlords, of tenant families, of the public and elite, and of politicians (1997). In a more uplifting chapter, Riis describes a successful rescue program through the Children’s Aid Society which instilled self-help and effectively educated young, troubled boys, the “Street Arabs.” Many of these young boys (and girls in other Children’s Aid Society programs) learned trades and skills that would help them overcome the entrapping cycle of poverty.
By writing this book, Riis played a major role in his plight for education about and of the tenements. According to Sante’s introduction, Riis was successful in changing the status and structure of the tenements through publication of How the Other Half Lives. Riis concludes, “I know of but one bridge that will carry us over safe, a bridge founded upon justice and built of human hearts (1997).”
Although this book was written during the industrialization period in the late 1890’s to address issues faced by victims of New York’s tenements, much of it is still applicable to the cycle of poverty still prevalent in America today, in the 21st century. As Riis believed, education plays an vital part of breaking this cycle and closing the gap between the rich and poor. Benjamin Franklin, writing a century before Riis’ time that education should not be a privilege only for the elite, would have agreed with his value of education as a resolution for tenement poverty (Isaacson, 2003).
This book opened my eyes to just how cyclical poverty is. It can be a downward spiral for many generations. Any one interested in having a better understanding of poverty, especially of immigrants or the uneducated, should read How the Other Half Lives. I have a greater appreciation for the opportunities and fortune many of us have. Riis has inspired me to further my contributions toward education. In support of Franklin and Riis’ values of education, I reckon the opportunity of education should be available for all to help break this cycle. I reckon Riis is right…until the bridge of justice built of human hearts he speaks of is fully constructed, situations of poverty will continue.
References
Isaacson, W. (2003). Benjamin Franklin: An American life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Riis, J. (1997). How the other half lives: Studies among the tenements of New York. New York: Penguin Books.
Stubblefield, H. W., & Keane, P. (1994). Adult education in the American experience: From the colonial period to the present. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Rating: 3 / 5
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