Poverty is a state of mind
B: Poverty is a state of mind
Even though some people make millions, poverty is still a problem in today’s society. There is an increasing gap between the wealthiest and the poorest people. This is also a problem in Britain. But is poverty really a state of mind? That is the controversial statement made by freelance writer Bernard Hare who in an essay from 2012 writes about his childhood in poverty in a mining family in Leeds. As an adult, he experiences a different kind of poverty.
Bernard Hare was born in 1958 into a poor mining family in Leeds, but he never felt the poverty as a child. His explanation for this is that their house was warm, the neighbors were welcoming, and that he spent a lot of time with his grandmother who lived across the street. Because he did not want to end up in poverty like his parents and also after being encouraged by his grandmother, he got into grammar school and later college. He started to get into fights at stadiums because he supported the football club, Leeds United. He was also arrested on more than one occasion. When Hare got to college, he started to drink and smoke. But he turned it around and became a successful social worker in London until he also had to provide for his father due to mining strikes. After that it all went downhill for Hare. He took drugs, drank, and sold drugs and stolen items. This changed in 1995 when he met the Shed Crew who was a group of 10 to 14 year olds living in an old shed in Hare’s old neighborhood. It put things in perspective and in 1997 he decided to become a writer because he wanted to tell the world the story about the Shed Crew. The final product was a memoir called Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew.
Hare uses contrasts in this essay to get his point across. First of all, there is the contrast between his childhood life and his adult life and the differences between the two kinds of poverty he has experienced. Secondly, there is the contrast between the poverty he lived in as a
Even though some people make millions, poverty is still a problem in today’s society. There is an increasing gap between the wealthiest and the poorest people. This is also a problem in Britain. But is poverty really a state of mind? That is the controversial statement made by freelance writer Bernard Hare who in an essay from 2012 writes about his childhood in poverty in a mining family in Leeds. As an adult, he experiences a different kind of poverty.
Bernard Hare was born in 1958 into a poor mining family in Leeds, but he never felt the poverty as a child. His explanation for this is that their house was warm, the neighbors were welcoming, and that he spent a lot of time with his grandmother who lived across the street. Because he did not want to end up in poverty like his parents and also after being encouraged by his grandmother, he got into grammar school and later college. He started to get into fights at stadiums because he supported the football club, Leeds United. He was also arrested on more than one occasion. When Hare got to college, he started to drink and smoke. But he turned it around and became a successful social worker in London until he also had to provide for his father due to mining strikes. After that it all went downhill for Hare. He took drugs, drank, and sold drugs and stolen items. This changed in 1995 when he met the Shed Crew who was a group of 10 to 14 year olds living in an old shed in Hare’s old neighborhood. It put things in perspective and in 1997 he decided to become a writer because he wanted to tell the world the story about the Shed Crew. The final product was a memoir called Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew.
Hare uses contrasts in this essay to get his point across. First of all, there is the contrast between his childhood life and his adult life and the differences between the two kinds of poverty he has experienced. Secondly, there is the contrast between the poverty he lived in as a