How the Other Half Lives Review Essay

How the other Half Lives is an informative book disusing the 1900’s. The author, Jacob A. Riis, counts people for the census. He saw many different aspects of life in New York City during this time. He shares some of the hidden relations of tenement housing. He discusses the many different ethnic groups and how they form group characteristics in distinct neighborhoods. Riis’s personal opinions of the value and power of these ethnic groups comes through in his writing. His ideas reflect some of the national ideas during this time period. Blacks rank the lowest in society at this time. Riis credits this to natural selection. They are a race on the lowest level, defenseless against the woes of the landlords. Riis does not seem to hate the blacks, but accepts the fact that they are the lowest form of a person. Riis places the Chinese right above the blacks. He discredits the popular belief that, â€Å"the Chinaman being a thousand years behind the age on his own shore†, by stating that in America, â€Å"he is distinctly abreast of it in his successful scheming to ‘to make it pay.’† Riis thinks the Chinese are repugnant people. He starts off my discrediting their â€Å"grub-worshiping† religion. The fact that Chinese practice a different religion takes many people off guard, and they begin to insult the region, saying it is unworthy compared to Christianity. Along with these insults, the dreary neighborhood and past time of gambling are also pointed out. Chinese were the most hated group of this time period. Jews are the next group. Riis shares both positive and negative traits of the Jewish people. He notes the contrast in age groups behavior with a neutral perspective and even notes how they â€Å"honestly† stay home on holidays. Riis points out that they live in the most crowed houses that he has ever seen. Riis seems mostly neutral about this group as he discusses their desire for money. Riis thinks the highest of the Irish. This group comes up many times throughout his writing and there is never any excessively negative comments made about them, unlike when Riis discuses the Chinese. This ethnic group is often compared to other groups and is the topic of a lot of his writing. He notes their short falls, but always with positive rhetoric. I think he is the most considerate to the Irish because they had been in the country so long. It is expected that they are in the country, and some are even moving out of extreme poverty. They seem to have the most power in the tenements of New York. In addition to this, Riis is very familiar with the Irish. Some of his writing comes across as sympathetic, such as when he says the Irish, â€Å"falls most readily victim to tenement influences†. Riis does mention that Germans may have a better experience in America. He tells how Germans garden, and bring their flowers with them wherever they go, but quickly flows that by saying, â€Å"not that it represents any higher principle in the man; rather perhaps the capacity for it†. Riis favors the Irish the most out of all the ethnic groups. Riis mentions many other ethnic groups that are present in America such as the Bohemians and the Italians. However his opinions of the Blacks, Chinese, Jewish, and Irish come through with the most passion in his in his writing.