Sherrena Is A Landlord In 'Evicted' By Matthew Desmond

Sherrena is a landlord in 'Evicted' by Matthew Desmond, she is world class American Landlord. Before she was a fourth-grade teacher then she decided to specialize in black poor neighborhoods where "she owned thirty-six units, all in the inner city," (13). Due to the fact she owned so much property, Sherrena had her own rules/opportunities. One of those rules/ opportunities was that tenants could do an odd job for the property they were living in if they wanted to prevent an eviction for not making rent payments. Lamar is one the Tenants that takes advantage of this opportunity because he doesn't have a stable income, has no legs and receives no financial assistance for his disability. Lamar takes matter into his own hands by painting or fixing

Lamar is an example of that, when he arrived to "look at the apartment, it was a mess, with maggots sprouting from unwashed dishes in the kitchen," (23). This didn't stop Lamar from renting this apartment from Sherrena because desperate times call for desperate measures. This was also an upgrade for Lamar from sharing one room with his sons in his mother's basement. Once he got the apartment, Lamar tried to tidy the place up and make it feel like a home for him and his sons. Lamar is an organized man with many skills that he gained from joining the navy '74. He was seventeen at the time and he was having the time of his life before "he was dishonorably discharged in 1977," (22). After the navy, Lamar turned to drug and alcohol abuse he which led to him partying all time. This shows that he had a pattern of destructiveness from leaving the navy to turning to addictions. Through this time, he met the mother of Lenny and Eddy who eventually gave up on her kids and focused more on her addiction. Lamar's breaking point was when he lost his legs which he believes was Gods doing. "He would say God threw me out," (27) Lamar had been delirious the day of his accident and jumped out of an upper-floor window. He woke up in the hospital without any legs, and from this point on Lamar wasn't the same. Through this testimonial

He already didn't have much money but he thought he had enough to buy other things. The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families caused Lamar to fall back on rent. Are these departments helping people out of poverty or digging a bigger whole for them? Desmond really showcases this by letting readers know how these social systems drive people more into poverty by using tactics such was "mistakenly sending welfare checks to peoples' home with their name on it." This led to Lamar doing odd jobs for Sherrena in the apartment complex. First Lamar started clearing out the basement to gain credit for his $260 rent debt. After spending a week in the basement if mildewed, Sherrena only credited Lamar $50. "Lamar though the basement job he had done for Sherrena and Quentin was worth $250," (26). To Lamar surprise this was job was worth less in Sherrena's eyes. Through her actions of exploitation, it's clear Sherrena loves to have control over a situation and gets a sense of satisfaction from under paying tenants. This behavior of exploitation is enabled by the social systems mentioned earlier because Lamar is not given a chance by departments that are made to help in low income individuals but instead enable the landlord's behavior. This first incident didn't stop Lamar from getting more credit for his overdue rent amount. He offered to paint Patrice's old apartment who had recently moved out. Lamar had his kids help him with this