Flavio's Filthy Favela Analysis

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Flavio’s Filthy Favela
Based on “Flavio’s Home” Americans often take many things for granted. While in Catacumba, Brazil, children suffer from disease, no running water, and terrible housing conditions. A little twelve year old boy growing up in this area was no exception to this. His name was Flavio da Silva. Today, however, the conditions are starting to improve. People who read this story by Gordon Parks will most likely start to appreciate the things they have. Flavio had appalling health conditions. First of all, his body was frail and weak, making it nearly impossible to develop naturally. This was mainly due to the malnourishment that almost all the children there suffered from. In addition to that, Flavio also developed a disease in his lungs called tuberculosis. This caused him to cough nonstop, and sometimes cough up blood. Parks says that it sounded like his lungs were tearing apart. …show more content…

Crime and the poverty level in the 1960’s were abnormally high, and citizens’ rights were almost unheard of. Gang activity has also been prevalent in years past. Now, the crime, gang, and poverty levels are much lower, citizens have more rights, and people are starting to have a feeling of pride in their community. This is partly due to the police roaming the area at all times. The police seem to be winning the battle on drug trafficking and violent crimes, which encourages citizens with a sense of safety. Many of the favelas have undergone renovations, and are not as much of an eyesore as they were in the 1960’s. Another positive thing happening in the favelas is the increase of medical care. The available healthcare mostly consists of basic immunizations and emergency care, however, that is a significant improvement compared to the 1960’s. The majority of people would agree that life in Rio de Janeiro is improving, but there are still years of work to be