In Mariana Enriquez “Things we lost in the fire: stories”. A compilation of grotesque short stories. The author has no fear illustrating topics on homeless children, suicide, self mutilation, poverty, mental illness, paranormal activity, child abuse, feminism, spousal hatred, anorexia and filicide. This book might make the reader think the crimes and heinous acts are isolated to that area of Argentina. But these acts, are motivated by the darker nature that lies inside human kind and are not location specific. Furthermore these acts have been documented and reported happening around the world.

Especially in locations of severe poverty. These issues do not have borders and yet they are minimalized, ignored and under reported within the United States. These are human rights issues the author uses as the meat of this raw compilation of stories in order to bring awareness to other wise unilluminated topics and to ignite a call to arms for human rights in the belly of the reader. These issues have a lacking a lacking that needs to be made whole.

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As awareness arises, humanity can start to take steps towards fixing these human rights issues. Poverty is the main root of these issues and it need to be addressed properly, and rational, instead of being ignored.

In Enriquez story “ Under The black water” the scene takes place in a slum were the cities district attorney goes to visit for a investigation due to the corruptions of the local police. She finds herself in a environment, that of severe poverty, mutation, murder, suicide and she is left fleeing with blood on her hands.

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The main issue Enriquez if focusing in on is poverty. This issue is one seen far and wide. In america the issue of poverty is lightly acknowledged and over all its ignored and under reported. Why is it under reported and ignored? In this quote from Enriquez story “Under the black water” the reader is able to gain a general idea of one of the major reasons poverty is not addressed properly, “She hated the darkness of the hundred year old building, and hated even more that her cases came from the impoverished slums on the city’s south side, cases where crime was always mixed with hardship.” (Enriquez 157) The most striking part of that quote “cases where crime was always mixed with hardship.” revals much insight due to the nature of poverty it is always mixed with more problems. Poverty is never a stand alone issue but more of the overall root issue which is like fertilizer for crops that will grow and be harvested. Unfortunately Poverty does not reap many benefits for the people in poverty or around it. In a case study done by the Lancet, growing international evidence shows that mental ill health and poverty interact in a negative cycle in low-income and middle-income countries. However, little is known about the interventions that are needed to break this cycle. They undertook two systematic reviews to assess the effect of financial poverty alleviation interventions on mental, neurological, and Substance misuse disorder and the effect of mental health interventions on individual and family or carer economic status in countries with low and middle incomes. They found that the mental health effect of poverty alleviation interventions was inconclusive, although some conditional cash transfer and asset promotion programmes had mental health benefits. By contrast, mental health interventions were associated with improved economic outcomes in all studies, although the difference was not statistically significant in every study. They recommend several areas for future research, including undertaking of high-quality intervention studies in low-income and middle-income countries, assessment of the macroeconomic consequences of scaling up of mental health care, and assessment of the effect of redistribution and market failures in mental health. This study supports the thesis that poverty is the root issue of many issues like mental health, academic success etc. Poverty is underreported due to the vast amount of resources it would require to fix. ( article on fixing poverty) in Things we lost in the fire the author give a nod at how governments approach fixing poverty in “ Under Black water” the DA came to a poverty stricken area to figure out what was going on with the crime she was investigating and at the end this is what happens. “ Marina Ran toward the bridge and didn’t look back and she covered her ears with her bloody hands to block out the noise of the drums”. This is to show the reader that the government is running away from the issue of poverty. And by governments in doing so intentionally or unintentionally causes crime syndicate to grow in turn creating more poverty in the area and crime.

A different studies shows the link between the poverty and crime and show the importance on recognizing the link. A study by Fesshea on crime and poverty. Crime and poverty have affected the U.S. and other countries for years. The socioeconomic factors and lack of access to proper education are important causes of juvenile crimes and violence in today's America. The majority of crimes usually happen in the inner cities where crime has had its roots for quite some time. In additions, the crime rate is high in some low-income and minority populated rural areas. Poverty is widespread in communities due to low income and are living in public housing, and where overpopulation is an issue. The poverty stricken groups vary by ethnicity, age, residence and families. Poverty is caused by several factors including low labor productivity, underemployment, unemployment, structural changes in the economy, and budget cuts for anti poverty programs. Data on poverty rates, per capita and family median income and violent crime rates are compiled from The U. S. 1990 and 2000 Census, the Statistical Abstract of the united states and other related sources. The data are analyzed to show the relationship between crime and poverty. Some policy recommendations are forged to reduce the crime rate to sustain the economic well being of the affected populations, and to improve the prospect of economic growth through education. Enriquez chooses to make poverty one of the main reasons for a call to arms due to the fact that its is so large of a problem with many sub problems and the only way to fix them would be to restructure the economic system. Which in the United States of America it is almost impossible to do since we are a capitalistic economy. Winner take all. In a capitalistic economy the structure is the have and the have nots. The haves do not want to give what they have to people who do not have the economic resources. Money is the biggest reason for why poverty is under reported and ignored. It would take to much money to stop poverty. This is a human rights issue if it only takes economic affluence to change the lives of people in poverty for the better then Enriquez is trying to ignite the fire inside all humanity to see this issue and deal with it accordingly.

In enriquez story “End of Term” a young lady in high school starts to exhibit self destructive tendencies. First by ripping out her finger nails by using her teeth while in the middle of class of when she pulls out a razor and slides it down her cheek leaving her classmates to see the open wound. Enriquez purposefully wanted to bring mental illness up as and issue. She incorporates mental illness in many of her stories throughout the book. Mental illness is an issue without borders it is ignored and under reported in the united state due to its stigma. Culturally mental illness is looked down upon. If one is to have a mental illness it is often never diagnosed and left untreated exacerbating the problem. Leaving it up to the unknowing patient to find a way to help themselves. Another reason for its lack of exposure is the fact that is is expensive to pay for treatment related to mental health. In a news article by georgia they introduce reads to the data of mental illness, ina Lancet Commission report on mental illness it said that mental disorders are on the rise in every country in the world and will cost the global economy $16 trillion by 2030. This economic cost is primarily due to the fact of early onset of mental illness and lost productivity, the article goes on to say that 12 billion working days lost due to mental illness every year. The Lancet Commission on Global Mental health and Sustainable Development brought together 28 global experts in psychiatry, pubic health, neuroscience and advocacy, as well as people with first-hand experience of mental health conditions. Launched at the Global Ministerial Mental Health Summit in London, the report recommends that mental health be reframed as a fundamental human right, and that the definition be expanded to promote mental wellbeing, prevent mental health problems, and enable recovery from mental disorders.

In the article it states that mental health is often neglected and underfunded, even though nearly 2 billion people suffer from mental illness every year,' said Lancet report co-author Dr. Janice Cooper, who leads the Carter Center's mental health work in Liberia.The report shows that in many countries, people with mental disorders still routinely suffer gross human rights violations including shackling, torture, and imprisonment. There is a call to arm to bring attention to these kinds of abuse and discriminations, the article calls for a human rights-based approach to ensure that people with mental health conditions are not denied any of their fundamental human rights, not just to health but also to employment and education, among others. Some treatments take years of cognitive therapy or require lots of human hours of effort over many years. In Enriquez short story “end term” a quote points to the issue of mental illness “ What’s wrong, Marcela?” “don't you see him?” “who” “him,him! There in the stall. Don't you see him?” She looked at me, anxious and scared but not confused; she saw something. But there was nothing on the toilet, just the beat-up lidand the handle, which was too still, Abnormally still.” (Enriquez 123) In this quote the author is bring up the issue of mental illness so the read can clearly see it and see the compilation of how it's not and easy fix.

In the “invocation of the big eared runt” the story allow the reader to take a glimpse in to the perspective of a father how fantasies about filicide. Filicide has existed since the dawn of mankind. In ancient Greco-Roman times, a father was allowed to kill his own child without legal repercussions. Despite the later rise of Christianity and its greater respect for life, filicides continued, often perpetrated by the mother, who may have claimed the child accidentally suffocated in bed. Reasons for wanting to end the life of a child, particularly a newborn, included disability, gender, lack of resources to care for the child, or illegitimacy. These reasons still hold true today. However, without our current systems of documentation, including records of birth and death, it was far easier to succeed in completing a filicidal act in earlier times without the knowledge of authorities, who may have turned the other cheek regardless of the laws in order to strike a balance between population growth and resources available in impoverished areas.

In 16th and 17th centuries, a drastic change in the opinion on child murder occurred in Europe. France and then England established laws that made filicide a crime punishable by death. Both countries also presumed that the mother who was on trial for the crime was guilty until proven innocent, meaning that she was responsible for proving to the court that her child was not the victim of murder. The tide changed again with the establishment of the Infanticide Acts of 1922 and 1938 in England. These laws recognized the effect that birthing and caring for an infant can have on a mother's mental health for up to 12 months after the event. These acts outlawed the death penalty as punishment for maternal infanticide, making the punishment similar to that of manslaughter. Several other Western countries have adopted similar laws, with the exception of the United States. Filicide has a presence in literature from all eras. Perhaps the most famous is also the oldest, and that is the story of Medea, a woman who killed her children to punish her husband for his affair. To him, she says, “Thy sons are dead and gone. That will stab thy heart.”4 Even fairy tales meant for children, such as Snow White and Hansel and Gretel, are filicidal in nature, telling of evil (step) parents who cast their children out into the world with the hope of eradicating them.5 The author points to some of the reasons a stressors that induce the father and husband to reach that area of mental illness as seen in this quote, “...she started complaining, demanding that they move to a bigger house...She wanted a yard, a pool, a game room, and a peaceful neighborhood where the boy could play in the street… moving to a rich tranquil suburb was far beyond their means. When she finished listing her desires for the future, she asked him to get a new job.” In this we see how not having means enough to provide the type of environment the parent wants to have places stressors on the parents. One of the leading motivation factors for a parent who commits filicide is them not being able to provide the environment they deem fit for raising their offspring show in this study done by(ADD SOURCE) Filice is ignored and under report due to the nature of this issue being one of extreme sensitivity. People do not want to believe that this act of violence from the parent to their own offspring is possible. Least they fill that a possibility exist that they them self might be capable of committing the same insidious crime.

Updated: May 23, 2022
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Horrors In Our Shadowss. (2022, May 23). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/horrors-in-our-shadowss-essay

Horrors In Our Shadowss essay
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