In Kotlowitz’s novel, CHA thoughtlessness brought problems in public housing like the sunrise brings. First, it removes simple dignity. Moreover, it deprived homeless Chicagoans of the housing they deserved. And finally, it even facilitated resident death due to constant hazardous conditions For example, one of the main characters, LaJoe Rivers, was a Henry Horner tenant who hoped for an orderly home and cleaned often. But because of the way the CHA neglected her apartment, it could never look presentable, no matter how hard she cleaned. The bedroom closets had no doors, inviting clothes to spill out on the floor. A horrible stench rose through the toilet— the stench of rotting aborted fetuses, LaJoe suspected— and due to the lack of maintenance, all she…show more content… Her bathtub faucet couldn’t turn off, and the constant splashing sounds frustrated LaJoe to no end. And even then, the bathtub’s water was scalding hot. Describing LaJoe’s trials, Kotlowitz wrote, “Cleaning her house was the only way she [LaJoe] could clear her mind, to avoid thinking about what might happen, or what might have been. The housing authority used to paint the apartments once every five years, but with the perennial shortage of money, in the 1970s it had stopped painting altogether. LaJoe couldn’t remember when her apartment was last painted. No matter how hard she scrubbed, the smudged walls never looked clean.” (Kotlowitz 26-28) Kotlowitz said it best— no matter her efforts, LaJoe’s apartment could never, ever be clean. Every attempt she made would be as futile as Sisyphus’ shouldering his boulder up the hill. The windows were too small. The “closets” were two-foot-deep dents in the wall. The curtain rods were missing, the kitchen cabinets were rusted through, and the insistent gurgling of a hot bathtub was always running in the background. Many take for granted the simple human dignity of a home that is possible to
