Poverty has long been a problem of society as it continues to hinder people from

acquiring the rights to most basic commodities in life (i.e., shelter, food, water, education, etc.).
It is considered to be the lowest in the social ladder with millions of people suffering from it
worldwide. The capitalist society today with the power it holds, systematically separates,
oppresses, and exploits people in poverty thereby forcing them to endure sufferings and prompt
resilience as they strive to live each day.

In Manuel Arguilla’s short story, How My Brother Brought Home A Wife, poverty forces
people to be separated from the others, in this case, Baldo’s brother, Leon, took his significant
other, Maria to his home in Nagrebcan from the city which means that Leon lived and worked in
the city where he met Maria. Separation can also mean that their ideals are different from one
another with an instance of the comparison of the city and rural life in Leon and Maria’s
conversation.

… It is so many times bigger and brighter than it was at Ermita beach."

.. The air here is clean, free of dust and smoke."

… But it is so very wide here," she said. The light of the stars broke and scattered the darkness so that one
could see far on every side, though indistinctly.

… You miss the houses, and the cars, and the people and the noise, don't you?" My brother Leon stopped
singing. "Yes, but in a different way. I am glad they are not here."

… Was she afraid of Labang?" "No, Father, she was not afraid."

Maria confessed how bigger and brighter the stars are in the fields of Waig than at
Ermita beach while Leon jokingly concurs that the air is not polluted as it is in the city. She
proceeds to be honest of how she feels about the place and answered that despite missing her
life in the city, Nagrebcan is a good kind of different and that she’s happy such city aspects were
not present in the place. Lastly, Leon and Baldo’s father asks Baldo if she was afraid of Labang,
which signals the idea that people from the city are perceived by people from rural areas as
individuals who are different from them with the thought that she might be afraid of the animal
because it was not what she was used to deal with.

Separation can signify a number of interpretations when it comes to poverty. In the face
of adversity, people are forced to make decisions that will separate them from the group of
people they are actually with (e.g. family, friends, community, loved one, etc.). Since
impoverished individuals have less power with the capacity to provide the basic needs, they are
most likely to travel and find jobs in places where most people of higher class (middle and
upper) live (Collier, 2018). On another note, social class is stated to have been continuously
giving rise to culture-specific selves and patterns of acting, feeling, and thinking (Manstead,
2018). This means that individuals who are exposed to poverty tend to think and feel that certain
ways of life that they are used to might be challenging and dissatisfactory for people who are of
a higher class to experience.

In Rony Diaz’s short story, Centipede, resilience comes as a result from experiencing
power. Eddie, the protagonist, develops resilience from the mistreatment his older sister, Delia
has continuously given him. To endure all the hardships, he developed mental and emotional
resilience from the moment he experienced how mean his sister was with the memory of him
accidentally snapping one of his sister’s doll legs which then prompted Delia to hurt him.

… Nothing I did ever pleased her. She destroyed willfully anything I liked.

… At first, I took it as a process of adaptation, a step of adjustment; I snatched and crushed every seed of
anger she planted in me, but later on I realized that it had become a habit with her.

… I did not say anything when she told Berto to kill my monkey because it snickered at her one morning,
while she was brushing her teeth. I did not say anything when she told Father that she did not like my pigeon house
because it stank and I had to give away my pigeons and Berto had to chop the house into kindling wood. I learned
how to hold myself because I knew we had to put up with her whims to keep her calm and quiet. But when she
dumped my butterflies into a waste can and burned them in the backyard, I realized that she was spiting me.

Eddie acknowledged how his sister hated him and destroyed everything that he liked
which displayed how much power his sister has been wielding over him. As a result, he tried to
adapt to his sister’s wicked ways but realizes later on that she despised everything about him
and has made it a habit to not let him have his way. He narrated the instances that explicated
how his sister would always find ways to get the upper hand and administer her hatred over the
animals he kept. With all the adversities Eddie experienced, he has learned to keep his temper
from exploding on his sister and tried to understand her despite how angry he was.

Power triggers resilience as a means of coping mechanism to the situation a person of

lesser power is subjected to. When a person constantly faces hardships and that individual does
not have the power to do anything against the oppressor, it is likely that resilience (though
developed in a rather negative manner) is developed over the time. It involves their capacity to
adapt to the circumstances they are subjected to, a psychosocial process to cope and
overcome the crises and adversities (Silva, 2020).

Lastly, in Algene De Guzman’s short story entitled, My Papa’s Secret, enduring

hardships is an ability that people who are suffering from poverty must have for they are
subjected to most adversities presented by social class. Papa Ben, with his high and apathetic
attitude, instills his authority over his patrons who are most likely people suffering from poverty.
They endure his strict instructions and insults to obtain an essential commodity – water.

… Neighbors and people from nearby “baranggays” started to pour in. They fall their pales, drums, and
other containers in line. “Be sure that your containers are lined up properly! I do not want any of those i-was-here-first
arguments, understand?” He bluntly uttered to his patrons. “You, you, and you,” he points to three of his clients. “All
of you still owe my business big time! So, when do you all plan to pay your bills?” He apathetically asks the three.
“Tomorrow, Papa Ben, tomorrow!” They replied in unison. The old man takes his list out from his belt bag and takes
note.

Papa Ben’s neighbors and people from nearby barangays rely on his water station in
obtaining their essential water supply. Papa Ben asserts his authority over them by telling them
what they should be doing and asking some of his patrons that they still owe him big time to
which they answered that they will pay him soon enough. This exhibits that his patrons endure
his attitude as the person with power over them because they need to acquire an essential need
in order to live even if means that they get insulted.

Poverty endures suffering as it entails the disadvantage poor people have than
individuals who are of a higher class as people in poverty, most of the time, do not have the
same choices as those of the latter class to get by every day. Moreover, there are instances
when people who are in the poor/working class internalize the dominant society’s beliefs and
attitude towards them as acceptable as it is deemed to be justifiable for they are higher in social
status (Class Action, 2021). Therefore, despite receiving spiteful remarks from people with
higher authority, it is considered by these people to be much better than not having the means
to obtain their needs.

Bibliography

Class Action. (2021). What is Classism? Retrieved from https://classism.org/about-class/what-

is-classism/

Collier, J. (2018). Exploring Internalized Classism Using the Regressive Model of Self-stigma.
Retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/217322861.pdf

Manstead, A. S. (2018). The psychology of social class: How socioeconomic status impacts
thought, feelings, and behaviour. Retrieved from
https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjso.12251
Silva, I. (2020). Family resilience and parenting stress in poor families. Retrieved from
https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0103-166X2021000101001&script=sci_arttext