Opening Worlds - Task 1

Compare the presentation of poverty and its effects in two short stories of your choice.

Poverty has a great effect on the lives of the families in Pieces of Sliver and The Red Ball. For the ‘poor folks’ three pence was “a lot of money” and in the Red Ball the love of a father from his son was taken away by poverty. However one of the families learns to cope with it and help them from the humiliation while the other family was disappointed by “everything going up.”

In Pieces of Sliver the Dovecot family had to live in a house that had a “poor, wretched coop of a room.” The house was ‘discoloured’ and the walls was cover with old “newspapers and magazines,” and they had to sit on “sanded floor.” This shows how poverty took over their lives and they had to live in place where you can see the “rotting, warm eaten boards beneath.”

Similarly in the Red Ball, Bolan and his family had a hard life and lived in a “long line of barracks.” They came to live in the Port of Spain to get a better live but it seems like when they came “everything went up.” Bolan wanted to make new friends and he had no other choice but to steal the money from his parents’ savings. This shows that the effect of poverty made people change their ways of living; forced them to do things they wouldn’t and turned them into a ‘thief.’

Clement’s father was ashamed of their poverty. He had to “sweat blood” for the money he made and the thought of giving his son three pence made him broke down in a ‘helpless laughter.’ They had to eat from a “peeling metal spoon.” This shows that poverty made them helpless and that they had to work really hard to earn the little money they got but that wasn’t enough.

Bolan had a “pin which kept his shirt front closed.” The living conditions Bolan and his parents had was really bad and Bolan was sent to ‘market school.’ He had to sleep on a “straw mat” and sit on a “low stool.” His mother was ‘disappointed’ by only saving eight shillings. This shows that their lives became worse by moving to Port of Spain and that when a nip of rum meant ‘celebration,’ but now everything evening his father would have it because of the stressed he had over not having enough money.

In conclusion, poverty can destroy lives but also help people to get along with each other. Clement and his sister Evelina has a close bond while Bolan is a pariah to the society. Both of the families went through a hard life but Clement and his sister helped themselves and others from being ashamed. While Bolan makes his father disappointed in him by taking their ‘savings’ to make new friends.