Evicted

by

Matthew Desmond

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Evicted makes teaching easy.
Lamar is one of Sherenna’s tenants. He is a Vietnam war veteran and an amputee with no legs. He is also a single father to Luke and Eddy. Sherenna repeatedly threatens him with eviction, and he finally leaves after the fire in Kamala’s apartment means that his building is bulldozed.
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Lamar Character Timeline in Evicted

The timeline below shows where the character Lamar appears in Evicted. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: The Business of Owning the City
Poverty, Exploitation, and Profit Theme Icon
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...a loud, joyous laugh. Yet today she is not laughing, because she has to evict Lamar, a man with no legs. When Lamar first fell behind on rent, she was hesitant... (full context)
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Sherenna arrives in front of Lamar’s home and sees Lamar being pushed in his wheelchair by Patrice, whom Sherenna is also... (full context)
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Inequality, Injustice, and Discrimination Theme Icon
Housing as a Human Right Theme Icon
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Driving away from Lamar’s house, Sherenna stops to check on a new tenant, a young mother whose baby is... (full context)
Chapter 2: Making Rent
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Shortly after Sherenna’s visit, Lamar sits in his apartment playing spades with his sons and their friends. All the boys... (full context)
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Lamar joined the navy in 1974, at the age of 17. After serving in Vietnam he... (full context)
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Lamar’s sons and their friends spend most evenings smoking weed and playing cards in the apartment.... (full context)
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...Milwaukee was then devastated by the “antiwelfare crusade” of the 1990s. Because he doesn’t work, Lamar receives $628 a month in welfare; after paying his rent he is left with $78,... (full context)
Community and Interconnection Theme Icon
Hopelessness and Lack of Choice Theme Icon
...served an eviction notice, Patrice moves back downstairs to live with her mother and siblings. Lamar offers to do up Patrice’s old apartment, gathering the neighborhood boys to help him. The... (full context)
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...to be afraid of the North Side. Later, Sherenna tells Lora about her difficulties with Lamar, complaining that he did a bad job fixing up the vacant apartment. Lora suggests it’s... (full context)
Chapter 6: Rat Hole
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...Hinkstons struggled to befriend their new neighbors. The only person they got to know was Lamar. (full context)
Chapter 10: Hypes for Hire
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After Lamar and the boys fixed up Patrice’s old apartment, Sherenna declared it a “motherfucking shitty-ass job.”... (full context)
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Next week, Lamar cooks breakfast for Luke and Eddy, whom he has allowed to stay home from school.... (full context)
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...to get rid of the smell of weed. Colin reads to them from the Bible. Lamar comments that “earth is hell,” and Colin replies, “well, not quite hell.”  (full context)
Chapter 16: Ashes on Snow
Poverty, Exploitation, and Profit Theme Icon
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...receive tax credits and Sherenna’s income surges. Doreen has managed to clear her debt, but Lamar hasn’t, and is still set to be evicted. On Wednesday night Sherenna and Quentin go... (full context)
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...Sherenna figure out that Kamala and her boyfriend Devon had been downstairs playing spades at Lamar’s, and had possibly left something on that set their apartment on fire. Sherenna struggles to... (full context)
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...isn’t responsible for any of it. Sherenna asks if she has to return Kamala and Lamar’s rent and, to Sherenna’s relief, the inspector says no. Sherenna says that the silver lining... (full context)