Preview

Circus Lady Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
643 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Circus Lady Analysis
Circus Lady

Circus lady is a play by Jason Miller. The play takes place in an apartment in a Puerto Rican ghetto in Bronx, New York. The apartment faces the streets. The apartment is really messy, and everywhere lays clothes, newspapers, magazines, and empty TV-dinners. The furniture is dirty, and covered in dust, and a smell of pet shop is filling the apartment. There are cockroaches everywhere. It is actually one of the first things we read, so we have already some pictures in our heads.

In all of this, live Marie and her son John. John is 18 years old, and he wants to move. Move far away from all of this, and far away from that poverty, there are shown all over the neighborhood. He is tired of sitting down on the corner everyday, doing nothing but play dominos and getting drunk with his friends. Luckily for John he has got a job-training offer in Chicago. And this might well be his best chance ever to get out of poverty and away from the ghetto.

He still has chances and he knows that, compared to his mother Marie. She has not been outside the door the last six months, because she is afraid, that she cannot walk the 3 floors up to her apartment again. Marie is a large lady, 5’2” and weights about 250 pounds. Once she had worked at nights as a waitress at The Plaza Dinner. That was when she was thin. One night she came home and saw her husband in the tub, dead. He had committed suicide. Ever since, she has been afraid that John should know the truth about his father. So she has always told him that he had abandoned her and went back to Puerto Rico.

They live in a very bad and poor neighborhood. They are poor and afraid. Especially Marie, she is afraid of John leaving her and she will be left alone, she is afraid that the welfare office will cut the welfare check and place her in a smaller room, or even a mental clinic. And at last, there is a serial rapist out in the neighborhood. External she is afraid of the rapist and is very aware of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    We Beat the Street

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages

    One thing they show in the book is how they beat the hood. For example “Quit throwin bottles in the street, man” (21). This shows how they would not let their neighborhood be destroyed and say that do not have a good neighborhood but they were ones making it bad.…

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Story Of Leah And Suzis

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The conditions at the refugee that Leah stayed at were nasty. The refugee camp was a tall and rickety building with a fence made of barbed wire. It was all rusted and the fence was taller than the eye could see. When Suzy walked by and showed two candy bars on the other side of the fence all the kids swarmed.When the kids swarmed it gave me the guess that they had not had that much food.All the kids were wearing old ragged clothing that looked like they had for a long time.…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    This book would be appropriate for children ages 10-14 or grades 4-8. This book tells the story of Jeffery, a boy who is left an orphan after a tragic trolley accident kills both of his parents. Tired of living with his aunt and uncle, Jeffery runs away from home. Along the way he makes many friends (and a few enemies) and accomplishes many amazing feats, including breaking the racial barriers between the feuding East Side and West Side. This book introduces students to many complicated topics such as racism, homelessness, and the search for personal identity. This book is a compelling and challenging read for both elementary and middle school students and would be considered a book about urban American…

    • 2002 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Places like these affect the life a child, and guide the child towards a stereotypical life. Not Dasani, she has a family that loves her, and lean on her for support. She is the anchor that keep the family together and sane. This is what Elliott is trying to explain. Family means everything and one will do the impossible to protect them, regardless of the situation at hand. With the family together there is no obstacle they can overcome. But there is only so much one can do especially at a young age. Dasani had to grow up quickly, giving her little time to live out her childhood. This is the problem with some current families. There are adults that are so irresponsible, and are not capable to caring for children. But the affection for one another is strong that keep them together. The author later quotes, “You’re not supposed to turn out like your mother.” The real question is; will Dasani grow up to be like her mother, or will she stay determine to fight for a better life of her own? Elliott wants her readers to know, that life in poverty is never easy. The choices are very limited and making the right choice is not clear for someone with…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bread Givers

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The mother of the house is Shena Smolinsky. For a long time she had to put up with her husband’s beliefs. She really does not like how he just studies the bibles all day, preaches to the family, does not work, and makes her and their children go out for the work. All the wages made go straight to the father. Shena Smolinsky also treats her husband like gold, and that is the way he likes it. At the dinner table, with already not very much food, she gives her husband all at fat. The women suffer the most because they are the house that cook, clean, and work. A scene from the book Bread Givers where she tells her girls the story of her life back home and how good it was. And how she thought she really fell in love with their father, and how he doesn’t understand the true meaning of marriage.…

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Their family always was pleased and in check with the bills for the first few months when they moved to a new house. Two places where they stayed the longest was Phoenix and Blue Mountain. In both areas Dad found good paying job as miner or electrician in a mine and for the first few months all the family’s needs were full filled according to the writer. However, when dad lost his job, things around the house would go back into chaos and left mom no choice but to teach and this made life better with their needs met again. During these days everyone was happy and the children received presents regularly like a new bicycle. These events were when the most smiles and happiness in kids was shone off. Finally towards the end of the book everyone moved to New York City and from beginning to end in their stay everyone was joyful. However their dad did die and Maureen moved to California after stabbing her mother but order was still there. Jeanette went to an Ivy League college and after graduating she became a journalist which was what she always wanted to be since high school. The author made this time seem very cheerful except when they talked about her parents in the streets. Towards the end the thanksgiving dinner brought the family all together witch it brought forth a conclusion worth reading. The Glass Castle states on the last paragraph “We raised our glasses. I could almost hear Dad chuckling at Mom's comment in the way he always did when he was truly enjoying something.” This showed at the end of all the pain and suffering there was true peace for their family at…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Circus in Town

    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jenny in the short story, “Circus in Town”, lives a poverty stricken life. One day her brother, Tom, comes home with a poster about the circus coming to town. Jenny’s excitement grew with the possibility of being able to just catch a glimpse of the professional entertainers that she envied so much, but she knew her family was not financially stable enough to enjoy the luxury of attending the circus. Even with the mother’s doubt about their ability to escape their debts, Jenny’s optimism and imagination help her escape her reality and embrace the fact that her chaotic family is her own unique version of a circus. The positivity gives Jenny the power to let her hope and have fantasies that allow her to strive for better opportunities.…

    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The rape of joe’s mother, Geraldine, is one of the major focuses of this novel, The Round House. A traumatic experience such as this is sure to change relationship of the family. The subject of rape changes his/her mood and beliefs to help coop or explain what has happened. This in turn effects the people surrounding him/her. In Geraldine’s case, she falls into deep depression, shuts herself from the world, and has minimum contact with her family. This puts a strain on her relationship with her son, Joe. There are many signs showing that Joe’s and Geraldine’s relationship is falling apart.…

    • 294 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Looking at the housing project, it creates a great imprisonment of the idea that never worked. The project shows a symbol of how Harlem has been imprisoned by its own decline and fall. This is because it was a noble project that was out to provide affordable housing, but people like drug dealers, moved in to the projects, causing awful conditions for living. For Sonny these conditions are what lead him astray. When going back to the housing projects with Sonny, the narrator, notices the tension between Sonny and the projects, “the moment Sonny and I started into the house I had the feeling that I was simply bringing him back into the danger he had almost died trying to escape.” (Baldwin. 605) Understanding that these conditions can hinder the way a person is brought up, family must stick together and support one another, when the narrator noticed the uneasiness that Sonny was exuding the readers can portray this as a rising arc in the relationship between the…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Amazing Grace Social Work

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the documentary-style book Amazing Grace, Jonathan Kozol writes about the realities of living in Mott Haven, one of the South Bronx poorest neighborhoods. His goal is to inform readers of the realities of children living in a slum and the unfairness of it all. The population of 600,000 live in the South Bronx of New York City and 43,000 make up Washington Heights and Harlem which is separated by a narrow river, make up one of the most racially segregated concentrations of poor people in our Nation. The question “why should their childhood be different from others across the country?” often arose and should be examined by all.…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Glass Castle Response

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages

    She got enough money by babysitting and jobs that she was able to go to college out there and was able to start her own life. Once all the kids got old enough to move and go to New York they made their way out of Welch and up to where Lori was living. When arriving the kids were still needing some guidance so Lori helped them grow up and be a parent to them. Sooner than later, Rex and Rose Mary made there way to New York in a van that had many issues on the way there. Just after a little while in New York the two end up homeless. Although the kids attempt to help their parents they were not able to do anything for them. Therefore, the couple becomes a squatter in abandoned houses and apartments until Rex dies of having a heart attack. By the end of the memoir, Jeannette has been married twice and is living the life she has always dreamed of. Although growing up might of been hard, it made her realize how much she helped her family and how much responsibility she took on helping to raise her younger siblings. This memoir explained a lot about how growing up on your own and how much of a big responsibility it is. These kids practically raised themselves together and set goals for themselves to get through everything. It makes people realize how you have to be thankful for what you have and appreciate your family and not take anything…

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    When they were young, their mother believed living in Harlem wasn’t safe and their father thought otherwise. Their mother wanted to move to a better place where her children would be safe. This can be seen when the narrator states, “‘Safe!’ my father grunted, whenever Mama suggested trying to move to a neighborhood which might be safe for children” (Pg. 113). Shortly after their father passed away, their mother feared Sonny would have trouble growing up or would become murdered like their unfamiliar uncle and pleaded to the narrator to always look out for him. The narrator was able to succeed by becoming an algebra teacher and tried to create a better life for Sonny, but ultimately he rebelled and started to use drugs. Present day, the narrator had no choice but to still live in Harlem in a housing project due to not being far from where he taught and for his children. The narrator and his family moved in when it was new, but after a few days it was already rundown. The narrator mentions that living in the housing projects became similar to the houses in which Sonny and he grew up in. After Sonny’s imprisonment, the narrator feared that Sonny living with them in the housing project would cause him to fall back again and rely on drugs. This can be seen when the narrator states, “The moment Sonny and I started into the house I had the feeling that I was simply bringing him back into the danger he had almost died trying to escape” (Pg. 112). The narrator began to look out for Sonny and would worry that at any moment Sonny would use drugs again to escape reality. The narrator wanted to make sure that this time he would complete his promise to their mother and help Sonny into a better…

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Native Son Analysis

    • 1966 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Her only stress reliever is drinking. All of Bigger’s friends do not live life to the fullest. They live scared. Bigger’s friends rob their own kind but are scared to disrupt the lives of their “Caucasian superiors”. The entire African American community has been held down for so long that all they know is to work and stay in their lane. Their view on the world and society is limited. They are all products of their environment. The Dalton family has a blend or incorporation of views on life and society. Mr. Dalton is perceived as a rich civil rights advocate. He has given millions to the black community to help better their lives. In reality, Mr. Dalton does not seek to solve major problems that African Americans face. Mrs. Dalton is blind elderly woman. She may lack vision but has a greater perception of the inequalities that African Americans face in America through their everyday lives. Mary Dalton is your typical radical and defiant teen that seeks to make a dramatic change in her environment and the world. She is most like her mother. She is compassionate and desires better for those who struggle regardless of race. She is a communist or a “Red” but this is the only political party that can match her values and…

    • 1966 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Candy is old and handicapped so he isn’t included in the activities the guys plan to do. Crooks isn’t allowed out the barn, unless he is playing horseshoes with the guys. He can’t go drink with the guys or go out and pick weed in the field with them because he is black. Curley’s wife is desperate for attention. She doesn’t get any attention from Curley so she goes and try to find it from other men. She really isn’t suppose to be doing that but she does it anyway behind Curley’s back. She goes around batting her eyes and curling her hair in her fingers and men stare at her. She does that because she is lonely she wants the attention from Curley but he is too busy and doesn’t pay attention to…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Johnny In The Outsiders

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Johnny and Dally both have abusive parents that affect their lives in a crucial way. For example, Johnny’s parents drink alcohol, and they hit him and abuse him. Johnny is very weak and shy, so he runs away for the…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics