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Poverty creates deep social contrast in the way people live in the society. Write an essay in support of the above statement drawing illustrations from...

      

Poverty creates deep social contrast in the way people live in the society. Write an essay in support of the above statement drawing illustrations from NoViolet Bulawayo’s story, Hitting Budapest.

  

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Martin
Poverty creates deep social contrast in the way people live in the society. Write an essay in support of the above statement drawing illustrations from NoViolet Bulawayo’s story, Hitting Budapest.

Introduction

Paradise and Budapest contrast sharply in their manifestations of the economic duality where extreme poverty is paralleled with abundance and extreme wealth.

Paradise is prejudiced in food and hunger pangs which drive children into stealing guava fruits as Budapest chocks in plenty and waste. The children sneak out of their dwelling place and go to steal guavas because of hunger. The narrator says he would die for guavas or anything because his stomach feels like somebody just took a shovel and dug everything out (pg 97). They have stolen from Chipo’s uncle’s trees, they have harvested all the fruits at SADC Street and now they are adventuring in the IMF Street where they are sure to find some. By the time they get back to paradise their stomachs are so full they will just drink water for the night, listen to Mother of Bone’s stories and go to sleep. Contrast this to the experience of Budapest where the woman comes out eating ice cream and can afford to throw the remains into the waste bin. The children wonder because they have never seen anybody throw food away.


The two neighborhood are completely worlds apart in housing and shelter. In paradise the narrator says they live in shanties and shacks. No wonder then that they are mesmerized by the Budapest’s big houses with graveled yards and tall fences and walls and flowers and green trees, heavy with guava fruits to steal. They even argue about and adopt houses they can only dream about.


Inequality is also very evident in the distribution of facilities of comfort (recreational facilities). In Budapest, along Hope Street there is a big stadium with the glimmering benches that the children in Paradise will never sit on . Mello can afford to eat ice cream the remains of which she even throws into a dust bin. The children from Paradise look at the flying remains of the food flying in the air like a dead bird before hitting the ground. They have never seen anyone throw food away. They can afford to listen to good music, not kwaito or dance hall like in Paradise . Mello takes pictures for fun. She has a nice pink camera which fascinate the children because it is not in their experience. No wonder, taking pictures does not appeal to the children at all

Contrasted social distance (disposition) is manifested in relationships and levels of interactions in Budapest and Paradise. There is certain level of effervescence in Paradise as opposed to Budapest. Children interact easily and even plan to go and steal Guava fruits from the neighborhood. Women and men can have time for each other . And the narrator tells us of Mother of Bones telling them stories in the evenings before they sleep. Budapest on the other hand is deserted and forlorn. The narrator says, “Budapest is like a different country…But not an ordinary country – it looks like everybody woke up one day and closed their gates, doors and windows; picked their passports and left.Even the air is empty; no burning things, no smell of cooking food or something rotting; just plain air with nothing in its hands.

Basics in life like clothing and water are so lacking in Paradise whereas there is plenty in Budapest. When Mello run her hands in her hair which looked matted and dirty the narrator wonders and wishes that he was in Budapest, '....if I lived in Budapest I would wash my whole body every day and comb my hair nicely to show I was a real person living in a real place.'(pg 101) even clothing is a problem in Paradise. God knows’ shorts are torn at the back and the white fabric is dirty as Basta wears a worn out T-shirt that makes him look so ugly one cannot tell whether he is a man or a woman. In Budapest, Mello is wearing a long neat dress. She is clean and pretty, like a baby. She adorns jewelry and her skin is smooth brown and does not have a scar.

There is no going to school in paradise. In fact the children believe that going to school is not important anymore. They imagine one can make money without going to school. The importance of school only occurs to them when they are taken to a correction home and they can now read and write.

Conclusion

In conclusion the story treats the reader to a clear disparity that is so common in life when it comes to distribution of national resources; one part of the society has in excess what the other part may never live to experience, creating an absurd tilt in life.
marto answered the question on August 27, 2019 at 06:53

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