The Tin Roofs of Cange: An Observation

 

Thus far, a lot of what has been explain to us about Paul Farmers life comes off as impoverished and poor, someone who lacked the essentials all of us with access to them daily, say we need and ‘can’t live without. I.E. A bathroom, television, computers, phones, and food enough to last more than a single day.

Yet, what I’ve noticed is that, with great vigor and candore, Farmer Jr. isn’t all too bothered by these things. They’re normal, and he was still able to thrive and succeed in a poor lower class living environment.

Something that caught my attention right off the bat in ch. 5 was the family getting up and leaving there home in Alabama because of “the atmosphere” in there Birmingham town in the 1960’s. Was it only because of the failings of Paul Sr. in in the town as a salesmen? Or was there something politically happening that caused the upheaval and drastic change of there families life at ‘home’?

After looking into it, it becomes clear it was clearly a political and safety issue. by the article Birmingham 1960’s ,showing segregation and rights fights in the south, there was a lot of unrest and violence, so it’s clear why the Warden feared for there safety.

Something that also caught my attention, in chapter 8 while Paul is talking to another volunteer at Hospital St. Croix in Léogâne, the man who seemed to have the same compassion for patients and helping them as Farmer did, said he was ready to leave the country behind, saying “Theres no electricity. It’s brutal here.”

It opened my eyes too. I never really realized how regular electricity has been for my life, and so many others. The only time I had a taste of complete blackout was the blizzard last October, back in 2011. Our apartment was without power and I had to rely on candle light to get around. That was tough, and I couldn’t imagine not having that luxury, but so many people are like that in this world.

It’s very sad. yet also enlightening, to realize what so much of the world lacks that we pride ourselves on using every single day. one question I do have though, because it may have eluded me while reading, or I may not have come upon it yet; is Baby Doc still in power during the time Paul Farmer is running the hospital in Haiti? (in reference to part one and our look at him as head doctor).