The Lower Class In Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel And Dimed
The life of the lower class
Not being in the lower class is a privilege to the people who witness how difficult it is to live in those conditions and imagine what it would be like to live off of lower class jobs. Barbara Ehrenreich saw this and decided that she wanted to experience what it would be like and experience the hardship that they push through. Barbara discusses the difficulty of living in the lower class with the use of her first point of view/ honesty and her use of figurative language. In the novel, “Nickel and Dimed”, Barbara Ehrenreich uses a sarcastic, dramatic tone to support her argument that people who live in the lower class have a difficult time getting by with the present American economy.
Barbara’s argument that people
who live in the lower class have a rough time getting by is achieved through her use of first person point of view and honesty. When using first person point of view, readers can comprehend exactly what Barbara is thinking and feeling, which also contributes to her use of honesty. To introduce her story, Barbara talks about the beginning of her journey to find a low-wage paying job, but is terrified that someone she knew would recognize her and ask her what her experiment is about. She is doing this in a covert way and does not want people to know what she’s about to experience. Luckily, she says, “Happily, though, my fears turn out to be entirely unwarranted: during a month of poverty and toil, no one recognizes my face or my name, which goes unnoticed and for the most part unuttered.” (Barbara 11). This first person point of view and honest statement, tells the readers that just during a month of being in the lower class, people cannot even recognize who she is or what her name is. If people cannot recognize her after one month, imagine what others feel or appear to be after a year. Another usage of her honesty is shown on page 15 when she talks about the lower class workers that she observes when applying for a job. She describes them as “housekeepers, who I note with satisfaction, look pretty much like me- faded ew-hippie types in shorts with long hair pulled back in braids.” (Barbara 15). Using her honesty and first person point of view, Barbara is using her own experience to describe that commonly, people in the lower class have a rough time taking satisfying care of themselves. The way she describes the “hippie” glimpse is another way of saying that they appear to be poor and prove her argument that man and woman in the lower class have a difficult time getting by and taking care of themselves. As the next point, Barbara achieved a humorous and sarcastic tone with the aid of figurative language throughout her story to try to make lousy situations exceptional. With the use of irony on page 31, Barbara says in context, “The only thing people have to call their own is the tumors they are nourishing and the spare moments they devote to feeding them”(Ehrenreich 31). This ironic statement proves her sarcastic tone because she’s saying that tumors are the only item that people can call their own, because the government “owns” everything else, but people themselves are making them bigger, or not doing anything about the government having so much power. Another example of irony is when Barbara talks about how she is “overqualified” for low-wage jobs, but she has a rough time getting a low paying job and impressing employers. Her sarcasm ended up backfiring on her and she has a rough time getting a job. Therefore her use of irony there is setting a sarcastic tone for the readers. Barbara not only uses irony, but also utilizes hyperboles and metaphors. To begin with hyperboles, when talking about waitressing, Barbara says, “Waitressing is also something I’d like to avoid, because I remember it leaving me bone-tired.” (Barbara 13). Her dramatic tone is achieved by this hyperbole because this is an exaggeration of being tired and not wanting to be a waitress. Lastly her use of figurative language to show her sarcastic or dramatic tone is her use of metaphors. One of the metaphors being on page 29 that states “The kitchen is a cavern, a stomach leading to a lower intestine that is the garbage and dishwashing area, from which issue bizarre smells combining the edible and the offal: creamy carrion, pizza barf, and that unique and enigmatic Jerry’s scent, citrus fart.”(Ehrenreich 29). This metaphor is comparing the kitchen to a stomach. This leads to a sarcastic tone because she uses phrases like “pizza barf” and “Jerry’s scent, citrus fart” in her metaphor to help the reader understand how gross the kitchen really is. Barbara is humorous and sarcastic with the use of her figurative language because she wants to help the readers understand clearly and enjoy reading. In conclusion, after all of the work that Barbara went through, she can say personally that she experiences how difficult it was to live in the lower class and not take in a great deal of income. With the help of her use of first point of view/honesty and use of figurative language Barbara Ehrenreich argues that living in the lower class is almost impossible with America’s current economy through a sarcastic and dramatic tone in the novel “Nickel and Dimed”.
Not being in the lower class is a privilege to the people who witness how difficult it is to live in those conditions and imagine what it would be like to live off of lower class jobs. Barbara Ehrenreich saw this and decided that she wanted to experience what it would be like and experience the hardship that they push through. Barbara discusses the difficulty of living in the lower class with the use of her first point of view/ honesty and her use of figurative language. In the novel, “Nickel and Dimed”, Barbara Ehrenreich uses a sarcastic, dramatic tone to support her argument that people who live in the lower class have a difficult time getting by with the present American economy.
Barbara’s argument that people
who live in the lower class have a rough time getting by is achieved through her use of first person point of view and honesty. When using first person point of view, readers can comprehend exactly what Barbara is thinking and feeling, which also contributes to her use of honesty. To introduce her story, Barbara talks about the beginning of her journey to find a low-wage paying job, but is terrified that someone she knew would recognize her and ask her what her experiment is about. She is doing this in a covert way and does not want people to know what she’s about to experience. Luckily, she says, “Happily, though, my fears turn out to be entirely unwarranted: during a month of poverty and toil, no one recognizes my face or my name, which goes unnoticed and for the most part unuttered.” (Barbara 11). This first person point of view and honest statement, tells the readers that just during a month of being in the lower class, people cannot even recognize who she is or what her name is. If people cannot recognize her after one month, imagine what others feel or appear to be after a year. Another usage of her honesty is shown on page 15 when she talks about the lower class workers that she observes when applying for a job. She describes them as “housekeepers, who I note with satisfaction, look pretty much like me- faded ew-hippie types in shorts with long hair pulled back in braids.” (Barbara 15). Using her honesty and first person point of view, Barbara is using her own experience to describe that commonly, people in the lower class have a rough time taking satisfying care of themselves. The way she describes the “hippie” glimpse is another way of saying that they appear to be poor and prove her argument that man and woman in the lower class have a difficult time getting by and taking care of themselves. As the next point, Barbara achieved a humorous and sarcastic tone with the aid of figurative language throughout her story to try to make lousy situations exceptional. With the use of irony on page 31, Barbara says in context, “The only thing people have to call their own is the tumors they are nourishing and the spare moments they devote to feeding them”(Ehrenreich 31). This ironic statement proves her sarcastic tone because she’s saying that tumors are the only item that people can call their own, because the government “owns” everything else, but people themselves are making them bigger, or not doing anything about the government having so much power. Another example of irony is when Barbara talks about how she is “overqualified” for low-wage jobs, but she has a rough time getting a low paying job and impressing employers. Her sarcasm ended up backfiring on her and she has a rough time getting a job. Therefore her use of irony there is setting a sarcastic tone for the readers. Barbara not only uses irony, but also utilizes hyperboles and metaphors. To begin with hyperboles, when talking about waitressing, Barbara says, “Waitressing is also something I’d like to avoid, because I remember it leaving me bone-tired.” (Barbara 13). Her dramatic tone is achieved by this hyperbole because this is an exaggeration of being tired and not wanting to be a waitress. Lastly her use of figurative language to show her sarcastic or dramatic tone is her use of metaphors. One of the metaphors being on page 29 that states “The kitchen is a cavern, a stomach leading to a lower intestine that is the garbage and dishwashing area, from which issue bizarre smells combining the edible and the offal: creamy carrion, pizza barf, and that unique and enigmatic Jerry’s scent, citrus fart.”(Ehrenreich 29). This metaphor is comparing the kitchen to a stomach. This leads to a sarcastic tone because she uses phrases like “pizza barf” and “Jerry’s scent, citrus fart” in her metaphor to help the reader understand how gross the kitchen really is. Barbara is humorous and sarcastic with the use of her figurative language because she wants to help the readers understand clearly and enjoy reading. In conclusion, after all of the work that Barbara went through, she can say personally that she experiences how difficult it was to live in the lower class and not take in a great deal of income. With the help of her use of first point of view/honesty and use of figurative language Barbara Ehrenreich argues that living in the lower class is almost impossible with America’s current economy through a sarcastic and dramatic tone in the novel “Nickel and Dimed”.