Harsh Life In Los Angeles

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u HYPERLINK l “_Toc376113893” James M. Cain, “Mildred Pierce” PAGEREF _Toc376113893 h 2

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376113894” Karen Tei Yamashita, “Tropic of Orange” PAGEREF _Toc376113894 h 2

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376113895” Yxta Maya Murray, “Locas” PAGEREF _Toc376113895 h 3

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376113896” Christopher Isherwood, “Single Man” PAGEREF _Toc376113896 h 4

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376113897” Yxta Maya Murray, “Locas” PAGEREF _Toc376113897 h 4

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376113898” Richard Rodriguez, “Remembering the LA Riots in 2042” PAGEREF _Toc376113898 h 5

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376113899” James M.Cain, “Mildred Pierce” PAGEREF _Toc376113899 h 5

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376113900” Luiz Rodriguez, “The Republic of East L.A” PAGEREF _Toc376113900 h 6

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376113901” Karen Tei Yamashita, “Tropic of Orange” PAGEREF _Toc376113901 h 7

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376113902” “The Future of Networking, by Theodore Zeldin’ PAGEREF _Toc376113902 h 7

Life in Los Angeles is not as easy as put by the media since there are different groups of people who live there and all they do is try to make life better. Though the city has always been associiated with various opportunities, life there is not as friendly as we tend to think. Pain and frustrations are part of the life.

Mostly people from all walks of life move to Los angeles looking for happiness that they hope will last forever. However, the city of Los Angeles does not always favor everyones happiness all the way. Most of the people who go to the city have to go through pain and loose the things that they value. This situation is common among the minority since part of natural selection occurs to everyone. Usually, the majority wins and the minority lose.

There is a relationship between misery and happiness in Los angeles. In the past people were restricted bt the elegance and sophistication of Hollywood life. They wanted the happiness that came with Hollywood life even if it was short lived. They forget that in real life, people have to face complexicity of the unexpected life.

On the other hand, there are those who feel that power is everything and that those with power are the ones who control everything. Just like in any other city, los angeles has a big gap between the social classes and prejudice against people of certain color. Some of these people are powerful which makes them be on top of the social class. The minority who are disadvantaged by the attitude in the community which is always unfair to them make them lose hope and faith of having a good life. However one should never give up their dreams . people have to find a way of dealing with life no matter how hard it maybe. At the end of the struggle and pain is happiness and success. That is why it important to always look forward and not backwards . The paper will discuss the harsh life in Los Angeles and the things people have to do to earn a living.

James M. Cain, “Mildred Pierce”“She couldn’t break Veda, no matter how much she beat her. Veda got victory out of these struggles, she a trembling, ignoble defeat. It always came back to the same thing. She was afraid of Veda, of her snobbery, her contempt, her unbreakable spirit. And she was afraid of something that seemed always lurking under Veda’s bland, phony toniness: a cold, cruel, coarse desire to torture her mother, to humiliate her, above everything else, to hurt her. Mildered apparently yearned for warm affection from this child, such as Bert apparently commanded.” (p.86)

This paragraph by James M.Cain talks of the challenges that people in Los Angeles face. The challenges are compared to complexity of the relationship between mother and daughter. In the paragraph, the mother lives under the power of her daughter. This leads to disapointments towards Veda though the mother feels love for her daughter and it this love that conquer everthing. When people go to Los Angeles, they expect to find easy life which is not the case. They face cruelity, wickness and hatred in some cases. However, those who keep fighting end up winners and achieving their goals. In Los Angeles, things are not easy but one has to struggle so as to achieve their goals.

Karen Tei Yamashita, “Tropic of Orange”“I happen to adore the Japanese culture. What can I say? I adore different cultures. I’ve traveled all over the world. I love living in L.A. because I can find anything in the world to eat, right here. It’s such a meeting place for all sorts of people. A true celebration of an international world. It just makes me sick to hear people speak so cynically about something so positive and to make assumptions about people based on their color. Really, I’m sorry. I can’t understand your attitude at all.” (p.129)

In this paragraph, Los angeles is described as the best place to be. Any one who goes to Los Angeles feels at home since the place offers everything for the different cultures that we have. However, though the place is has people from all cultures, the same people get discriminated by people who feel to be superior that the rest. This creates conflits within the community since the discrimanted parties do not receive important services they are entitled to. James M.Cains in this paragraph argues that people were used to living under complexity not only under daughter-mother relationship, but on racial grouds. This is compared to life in Los Angeles where people have to go through hardship in relationships.

Yxta Maya Murray, “Locas”“They can’t tell the difference between Echo Park and Silver Lake vatos with their taks and baggies or Lincon and Sereno homegirls with their dyed red hairdos. And then you’ve got your Cypress mamacitas walking their babies on the sidewalk who look a lot like the Boyle heights maids coming home on the RTD after their long days. But it ain’t the same. We feel different from each other, especially the rebels. You cross over on some streets and gangsters will kill you in the name of their neighborhoods.” (p.84)

In this paragraph, Murray talks of the competition that is in los angeles. People from different races are competing to out smart the other. This kind of competition is not healty since it makes people to prioritize their own group. The group that is weak with no resources end up being miserable and some are killed by the powerful group. According to Murray, Mexican had various similiraties though the similarities do not unite them. Just like in Los Angeles, the groups in the paragraph cannot accept to live with each other therefore causing more conflicts.

Christopher Isherwood, “Single Man”“As for George, these waves are much too big for him. They seem truly tremendous, towering up, blackness unrolling itself out of blackness, mysteriously and awfully sparkling, then curling over in a thundering slap of foam which is sparked with phosphorus. George has sparks of it all over his body, and he laughs with delight to find himself bejeweled.” (p.162)

This paragraph by Christopher talks of life in Los Angeles. There are people who go to the city, and start with a rough ending. They have to struggle a lot before they reach their goals. Just like in any city, things might not be easy at the start but with determination and endurance one can get to where they want to be. Therefore anyone who want to go to Los Angfeles should niot expect easy things though it depends on lack. just like anyone else who goes to Los Angeles, George has gone through a lot in life and is happy that he has had a rebirth from his dark past experience. George has suffered a lot but he did not give up instead took the challenge and finally has made it.

Yxta Maya Murray, “Locas”“Me and Mami and Papi dreamed about the States all the time. We would do anything to be like los Americanos. So we paid all our money to a coyote and he zoomed us over nice and quick. I was just a baby girl then but I still remember, the night was black and Mami held me up in her arms and we ran fast, just like he told us to. It was the getting over part that was easiest, though. You think it’s gonna be all sunshine when you get to pretty California, right?” (p.143)

In life one does not always get what they want. That is rthe same situation in Los Angeles. However, even though one does not get what they want, they can always look for what favors them and work with it. Any one going to Los Angeles and find that life is not a bed of roses, then they deal with the situation though it miht not be easy. The truth is no matter how hard, one should never give excuses or run away from reality in Los Angeles. This experience can be compared to Lucia who is from Mexican. When she gets to Los Angeles she goes through so much difficulties in order to survive the harsh life in the city.

Richard Rodriguez, “Remembering the LA Riots in 2042”“It was the worst moment for Los Angeles. It was also the first moment, I think, when most people in L.A. realized they were part of the whole. The city that the world mocked for not being a city, for lacking a center, having only separate suburbs, separate freeway exits─ L.A. realized that it was interconnected. In fear, people realized that what was happening on the other side of town implicated them.”

After the riot that took place in LA, most people started seing life from a different point . that was when people grouped themselves in different social classes as well as different cultures. Many people lost their lives and things were destroyed. However, after reconciliation, most people realsed at the end of the day they are connected by differences. That is why today most of them are are not so much discriminated. This makes Rodriguez not to agree with Murray on the idea of social disjunction within the community.

James M.Cain, “Mildred Pierce”“Mildred got up, took careful aim, and slapped Veda hard, on the cheek. The next thing she knew, she was dizzy from her head to her heels, and it seemed seconds before she realized, from the report that was ringing in her ears, that Veda had slapped her back. Blowing smoke into Mildred’s face, Veda went on, in her cool, insolent tone: “Glendale, California, Land Thomas, eighteen eleven-eighteen ninety-six.” (p.182)

According to this paragraph, not everyone who goes to Los Angeles is well discilplined. Those who do not behave well are taken to the rehab where they are taught how to live with people. It is therefore important to live well with others within the community. Moreover, parent who live with their children in Los Angeles should appreciate their children and give them the liberty they need. when children are appreciated they are likely to become good citizen who are disclipline therefore improving the citys behavior after all charity begins at home. This relationship can be compared to Vedas behavior towards her mother. Her bad behavior makes her mother to slap her on the cheek. The mother slapped Veda since she had an unhealthy behavior that can be compared to what local people go through when they do not act as required.

Luiz Rodriguez, “The Republic of East L.A”“She had to survive being cast into a peculiar universe of neon and noise. This was a place where winos and the homeless resided on the sidewalk, where women sold themselves for sex to eat or get stoned, and where people on city buses never say anything to you unless they happen to be drunk or crazy.” (p.229)

The woman described by Rodriguez has to give up her dinity so as to get money for survival as well as food. This shows how much people in the city have to struggle to make ends meets. People go to LA looking for a brighter future and easy life however, that is not the case. However the case of the immigrant woman who has to give up her dignity by having sex to survive is not one of those things that happens in Los Angeles. This is because in the paragraph Rodriguez describes the city as a peculiar universe full of noise and neon. This means that the city is full of glamour and challenge though it does not go that extend. Just like Yamashita, Rodriguez talks of the complexicity within the city where people have to face harsh reality to get common things like food and money.

Karen Tei Yamashita, “Tropic of Orange”“But I am not working to die,” Rodriguez protested. “I work to live!” He looked as if he would cry. “All these years with the little I earn, I worked for my children to live. Even soldiers who labor with death, labor to live! Even my youngest son who ran away─” Rodriguez could not continue.” (p.143)

According to Yamatisha, most people who go to Los Angeles work hard to make a living. At the end the hard work becomes competition within communities which makes life even harder. People in Los Angeles should strugule to make a living and not to compete. However, if the competition is health then they should adopt it. Otherwise they should not competiting since the loosers might not take it light. The paragraph can be compared to the kind of life some people face while in Los Angeles. In the paragraph, Rodriguez says that all he does is to work for a living. All his life he has earned little money and he says the money is for his children. It shows the struggles that he goes through everyday and can be compared by to people who live in Los Angeles. The unlucky ones have to go through the same situation to make ends meet.

“The Future of Networking, by Theodore Zeldin’ ‘The most important networks are those of the imagination, which cross from the conventional to the unconventional, refusing to accept that what exists is the only thing that is possible. The most important skill, which underlies all creativity and all scientific discoveries, is the ability to find links between ideas which are seemingly unconnected. How is this skill acquired? It does not come naturally. People normally prefer the customary and the familiar, using the minimum of effort to achieve their aims. Intellectual laziness and obstinacy are formidable deterrents against invention. And the making of genuinely innovative contacts. But fortunately, you do not have to be a genius to be imaginative; all you need is courage. Courage comes from curiosity and empathy…..’

It is important for the people who go to Los Angeles to have an open mind and be willing to be creative. Creativity is what makes people succeed they are able to invent new things. They need to make effort so that they can a living. Just like technology, anyone who goes to Los Angeles has to keep changing with trend (Dickey, 56). That is why the people who are not creative end up living in poverty. Many people tend to stick on their old ways and resist change or take so long to adapt to the new changes. In Los Angeles, if any one has to make a living, then they have to be smart by coming up with new innovative ideas.

The different comparison showcases the main difference between what the media has portrayed about Los Angeles and the real life in Los Angeles. Most people who have never been to Los Angeles are made to believe that life in Los Angeles I easy and that people who live there do not struggle as much (Pulido, 43). This is not the case since just like any city, Los Angeles anyone who goes there has to be hardworking, creative and can network with people. Most people who go to Los Angeles end up being poor and are discriminated since they cannot cope with the reality in Los Angeles. They want to have an easy life without putting much effort. This cannot happen since success goes to people who work hard and not to lazy people.

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