Poverty is a universal issue from New York City to Sierra Leone, where children everyday suffer, with over one billion children worldwide living in poverty. Suffering from malnutrition, illness going untreated, lack of education, and having to commit crimes just to stay alive. Two examples that demonstrate how raw and horrid the struggle of poverty are the memoir A Long Way Gone and the movie The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete. In two totally different settings and conditions the children share many similarities in their struggle of poverty, along with some differences. Throughout both of these works there is a prominent theme of family and it is eminent how much family can change a situation. Ishmael, Pete and Mister share the fact that their family is not there for them. This seems to be a major influence in the poverty that is experienced, going beyond just economic poverty and leading to absolute poverty as they lose societal, mental and emotional connection. And in both of these works, when they get their family back or find …show more content…
In The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete drug addiction is a leading factor, while in A Long Way Gone the biggest factor is the Civil War. They also had different solutions, like Ishmael needing to leave the country to gain his life back, while Mister just needed a real mother, who was responsible. Also the level of danger they are in are completely opposite. Ishmael has nowhere to stay and if he is caught he is dead, if he does not fight he is dead. He even comes to not fear death due to this. While Mister is scared of the law enforcement, being taken away from his home, something that Ishmael did not have the luxury of. Ishmael also takes on drugs as a coping mechanism and becomes addicted, which affects his resocialization. It is evident that not all poverty is the same, but it is all repulsive and children should never be the