ipl-logo

Summary Of The Night-Soil Men By Steven B. Johnson

744 Words3 Pages

"The Night-Soil Men" by Steven B. Johnson is a powerful piece of literature. The author shows through powerful imagery how it was like to live in the lower class. He as well references several authors to help show the what these people lived through everyday. "The Night-Soil Men" is a commentary about how the lower and middle class was treated in the Victorian Era and how today we take things such as "recycling centers, public-health departments, safe sewage removal" for granted. The lower class of society were considered "ghosts," they were undesired by the upper class because of their place in society. The upper class did not want to see them, to the, they were not people. The terms that were used for them sounded more fitting for a …show more content…

He -talks about how they would wade through a river of sewage just to find something valuable to either sell or eat. At times a pocket of methane gas would appear, and since the people people carry kerosene lamps to light their way it would ignite and set them aflame causing them to die in the sewage. Johnson describes all the items they collect, and it just makes such a powerful image in your mind of how horrible and not easy it was for this people to live. All they were trying to do was to just get by with whatever they could make do with. He as well references both Charles Dickson and Henry Mayhew to give more of a idea of how hard the lower classed worked to find something salvageable to bring back home. His use of imagery makes you feel like you are actually there; you can feel the atmosphere, and just see in your minds eye how they lived. Today many people do not live life like this. It would be unacceptable if someone did, but even with people no longer living in these types of conditions we still today have are own "ghosts" that we often …show more content…

Johnson just opens your eyes on how truly terrible things were back then and how we often take many resources for granted. Often when you think of the Victorian Ear you think balls, fancy gowns and the explosion of a new form of literature. You do not really think of the nity gritty of what was truly going on during that time, while this is a thing of the past it is still very relevant today. The homeless are like are "ghosts" of today. They are often stereotypes as being insane or druggies and alcoholics, most of the time people just walk or drive right pass them and ignore them. The homeless are often wanted to be seen in society just like the lower class of the Victorian Era. "The Night-Soil Men" is a great piece of literature that opens your eyes to how things truly worked back then, it shows how much we take for granted

Show More
Related
198 Words | 1 Pages

Man vs. Society is a type of conflict in the book “Night” written by the late Elie Wiesel. Life was harsh for the Jews in the concentration camps; it was so harsh both Jew and officer lost their humanity. One of the few people who kept their humanity was a Dutch man. He never insulted any of them; he even tried to free the Jews. Sadly he was caught and hung.

Read More
1603 Words | 7 Pages

The study of occult worship and witchcraft has fascinated scholars for centuries. Many academic intellectuals have researched varying topics on this matter over time. Carolo Ginzburg is one such individual. He wrote The Night Battles to try and show the fundamental differences between witches of the middle ages and the agricultural based cult Benandante. He uses this text to provide readers with a better understanding of this cult.

Read More
1043 Words | 5 Pages

Imagine living in a place where everyone is equal. Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy narrates a story about a man, Julian West, who lives in Boston during the 19th century where there is hardship, labor unrest, and a large gap between the rich and the poor. During the 19th century “many of the wealthiest Americans consciously pursued an aristocratic lifestyle, building palatial homes, attending exclusive social clubs, schools, and colleges, and focused on spending money not on the needed or even desired goods, but simply to demonstrate the possession of wealth” (Foner, 602). Julian West who is engaged to Edith Bartlett, an aristocrat, they were waiting to get married when their new house was finished, however; Julian West had serious insomnia

Read More
201 Words | 1 Pages

Walter Evan’s depiction of life and the people during the Depression of the 1930s is shocking, depressing, and infuriating. In the picture, one mother and three children sit and lay on the ground looking away from the viewer. The mother 's clothes are dirty and torn, along with the children’s clothes laying on the ground and at her side. For instance, the only person wearing shoes is the mother. She appears hopeless, distant, and tired as she looks at her dirty and half-naked children.

Read More
410 Words | 2 Pages

Methods Statement: Beginning with accounts of individuals and events, Linebaugh and Rediker expound upon those accounts to explain how the proletariat of society helped to establish capitalism and global market as we know it today, while also following the Hercules/Hydra myth comparisons in society within the Revolutionary Atlantic. Organizational Style: The text was originally published in 2000 and republished again in 2013. The begins with a Preface to the Second Edition where the authors discuss the history of the text along with things that were added to the text with its second release. The preface is followed by an introduction that explains the Herculean myth in regards to the many-headed hydra and the original symbolism behind the myth- a recurring topic throughout the text, and introduces the goal of the text to explain the importance behind the proletariat of society and capitalism. This is followed by nine chapters: "The Wreck of the Sea-Venture," "Hewers of Wood an Drawers of Water," "A Blackymore Maide Name Francis," "The Divarication of the Putney Debates," "Hydrarchy: Sailors, Pirates, and the Maritime State," "The Outcasts of the Nations of Earth," "A Motley Crew in the American Revolution," "The Conspiracy of Edward and Catherine Despard," and" Robert Wedderburn and Atlantic Jubilee," where the authors discuss various events and individuals in order to explain the wider impact on society back then as well as today.

Read More
952 Words | 4 Pages

Maynard Dixon painted Forgotten Man in 1934 displaying the loss of hope man had during the Great Depression. The painting is stripped down in terms of color and objects which gives a viewer the opportunity to truly divulge into the emotions. However, this tactic increases the chance of the piece being looked over without a second thought. A man is sitting, adjacent to a fire hydrant, on a street curb eyes down with only the legs of people passing by shown in the background. The tones of the piece are muted allowing despair to be the focus.

Read More
777 Words | 4 Pages

The surveys taken within the publication lack insight, and only prove to reinforce stigmas and stereotypes about the homeless, therefore canceling out my claim. For example, “...” The source is over 10 years old, leaving the data outdated and subject to alteration. The logos found within the piece help to prove the vast importance and emergence of the issue. It is widespread.

Read More
1012 Words | 5 Pages

One of the best-selling authors, Barbara Ehrenreich, in her narrative essay, “Serving in Florida,” describes her personal experience working in a local restaurant called Jerry’s. Ehrenreich’s purpose is to attach importance to the low-wage America workplace. Using rhetorical strategies such as negative diction, simile, images, and pathos, Ehrenreich attempts to raise public awareness of the low-wage workers’ life in her readers. Firstly, Barbara Ehrenreich exploits connotation of words and simile to emphasize the difficult life of the lower class.

Read More
799 Words | 4 Pages

Prior to reading this novel I had never considered why the homeless were homeless. I always just stereotyped them and assumed that they were alcoholics or drug addicts and that it was their own fault that they were on the streets. The idea that there would be any other reasoning for their homelessness never crossed my mind. “I think that maybe sometimes people get the lives they want,” (Walls 256).

Read More
178 Words | 1 Pages

Homelessness is a product of social inequalities. Karl Marx stated that the capitalist society produces two prominent classes which are in conflict with each other, bourgeoisie and proletariats. The bourgeoisie are the oppressors who own the means of production and the proletariats are the oppressed workers who labor for the bourgeoisie. Capitalism is distinguished not by privilege but instead by individuality of property ownership and that those who create the conditions of the oppressed group express this power in the form of laws that function to serve the bourgeoisie’s interests (Marx, 2004, p.129).

Read More
715 Words | 3 Pages

Life in England during the 1930’s was the birth of a new age while being one of the hardest time periods to live through. The modern life in England was beginning to soar, but some of the consequences that other families had to go through were catastrophic. Many families have passed down stories of what life was like during this great depression and how it impacted their lives on a direct platform. Though part of the social class was falling, another portion was rising to the top of a new era. The daily lifestyles of the middle class started to change in a way to bring forth a new culture.

Read More
779 Words | 4 Pages

Victorian Era From 1837 to 1901, the Victorian Era had a massive impact on England. During this period, many new social and industrial innovations began to occur and was considered to be a time of prosperity and stability. But there had also been developments of many inequalities, which included wealth and gender. Overall, the Victorian Era was a period of many changes which included fashion, employment, lifestyle, and poverty.

Read More
1059 Words | 5 Pages

Victorian society is marked by the period of Queen Victoria’s rule in England. This was a period in history where people were prosperous and constantly finding new ways in which to refine themselves and their lives. The literature of this time period reflected both aspects of society – the well-to-do that were consistently trying to find ways in which to elevate their status as well as conditions that were more challenging for many other aspects of society. Authors like Charles Dickens and William Blake (Victorian-era writers) called attention to the challenges present in Victorian society that were not as well publicized as all of the positive attributes of this time period. There were significant disparities throughout the Victorian era.

Read More
848 Words | 4 Pages

Natalia Jing AP Literature Ms. Otani 23/11/2015 Social Status of People in Different Classes of Victorian England and how does is Revealed in the Character Jane Eyre. Through out history, the United Kingdom had always been at the leader position on whether the inspiration of new innovations or the strength of the nation overall. For this country, the Victorian Era, ruled by Queen Victoria, was undoubtedly the most glorious period, where industries and trading were expanded to the whole world. However, fast industrialization does not appear to benefit the lower class in Victoria at all.

Read More
799 Words | 4 Pages

Trevor Heck Mrs. Ecker English 1PreAP 1 February 2018 Research Paper Victorian Era The Victorian era was filled with many things that range from working labor to class. In this era your life depended heavily on your class, unlike today. Thing such as clothing to what you did described everything about you, what you do , and how your life played out even as a child.

Read More

More about Summary Of The Night-Soil Men By Steven B. Johnson

Related Topics

Open Document