Life in the Bubble
Facing oppression can be like living in a glass bubble. Able to see everything surrounding the transparent sphere, but not being able to change anything about it. Trying to shatter the firm enclosure, but to no avail. People notice, but fail to show clemency and carry on with their lives, not offering assistance or trying to break the glass. Since the person behind the barrier is deemed unfit to do work, they are not considered to be conventional members of society. The main characters of America by Richard Blanco, Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, and Paul´s Case by Willa Cather all experience a form of oppression on a large scale in America, all making them feel less than a person. This oppression stems from where…show more content… After the family attempts to raise their minimized spirits by dancing, they all silently sit and ponder about how they are different. In this sense, they became aware of their oppression due to their ethnicity. In Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, a lower class woman sets out to find employment as a maid or a deli clerk. Throughout her journey she fills out plenty of applications and speaks to a multitude of employers, yet is never called back for an interview. ¨I had been vain enough to worry about coming across as too educated for the jobs I sought, but no one even seems interested in finding out how overqualified I am.¨ (Ehrenreich) Although Ehrenreich is an intelligent, credentialed woman, most employers do not want to hire her due to her being of a lower class. She is oppressed because of her lack of wealth, and employers only want to convince their customers that their establishment is fit for highest rank of society. They are only able to see her as one ¨do not hire¨ sign rather than her qualifications because they likely have already made up their minds about her. In Paul's Case by Willa Cather, a suicidal man completes what he believes to be his final life's mission. While he, like the unnamed narrator in Nickel and Dimed, is unable to
