Marie

The world is a complex place full of social problems such as poverty, drug abuse, violence and oppression and it often seems like nothing works. Many people like Marie, from the book Lost In The City, are constantly living these similar issues of poverty and crime on a daily basis. Often times, people seek out to government assistance programs not because they want to, but out of struggle due to their given circumstances. We sometimes do not think, but act out of anger, which can result in chaos. Marie is a woman with a great character but because of life’s chaos, Marie has let anger take the best out of her. Tired of the system in which Marie has been depending on, she often followed through the letters that came to her from the Social Security Administration office hence they would cancel her assistance if she did not show up to her appointments. Given the circumstances that Marie had, “it seemed to her like life was all a chaos and painful uncertainty and that the only way to get through it was to expect chaos” (Jones, 1992, pg. 230). It was an unpleasant evening in March, in which Marie had to purchase a simple box of oatmeal. On her way to the store a young man came from behind and tried to ripe off her coat pocket. Marie of course was prepared. It seemed like she knew about her community and the people that lived there. When the man ripped her pocket she took out her knife that was hidden in the other pocket where the money was and cut his hand. Often times, life circumstance as well as our experiences makes us do things that might sound extreme or harmful. Marie was a woman that endured many problems; therefore she was always ready for anything to go wrong. Marie did react in a violent manner, but was convinced that if it were not for the knife that she had, her life would have been in jeopardy. Out of pride Marie did not wash the fellow’s blood from the knife. Since Marie was of old age, she felt like her life was only about chaos and it did not