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LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in How the Other Half Lives, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
How the Other Half Lives is an important example of—and in many ways helped to spark—the Progressive Era in American history, which is usually dated to the period between the 1890s and the 1920s. The Progressive Era was a period of diverse and wide-ranging social reforms prompted by sweeping changes in American life in the latter half of the nineteenth century, particularly industrialization, urbanization, and heightened rates of immigration. Rising levels of social and economic inequality also helped to galvanize a growing middle class of professionals—including Riis himself—into seeking change. Progressive reformers like Riis were convinced that vast problems like greed, poverty, health problems, and corruption could best be solved through good education, a safe environment, and reformed government: they sought change within the law but also promoted control and planning on the level of individual family life as well.
One way Riis and many others sought to expose social problems was through “muckraking,” a kind of journalism by which writers sought to uncover scandalous, detailed accounts of corruption—particularly in ways that would expose powerful people to public view. The moments in How the Other Half Lives of dramatic irony and explicit cries for sympathy are key elements of the muckraking style, which Riis and others found vital to promoting progress. The Tenement Act of 1901 was one direct result of Riis’s Progressivist efforts: others turned trust-busting (that is, getting rid of powerful corporate monopolies) or the shocking conditions in factories and sweatshops to similar ends.
At the end of the nineteenth century, much of the most difficult and backbreaking labor in the country was performed by immigrants. While the United States had always been a country of immigrants, certain historical trends in Europe at the time, from the Irish potato famine to Central European revolutions and persecutions, caused immigration to swell at an unprecedented rate. Riis, a Danish immigrant himself, struggled to find work for many years. But he and other Progressive reformers, while eager to improve the lot of recent immigrants, were also convinced that they could only do so by “Americanizing” them in the ways they found best. The liberal, open character of the Progressive Era was thus also defined by a certain authoritarian streak, one that can be found threaded throughout the pages of How the Other Half Lives—a sense that the poorest and most vulnerable need to be told how to act and live in a certain way if they want their lot to improve.
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The Progressive Era and Immigration ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of The Progressive Era and Immigration appears in each chapter of How the Other Half Lives. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
How often theme appears:
chapter length:
Chapter
Epigraph/Preface
Pre
Introduction
Int
Chapter 1
1
Chapter 2
2
Chapter 3
3
Chapter 4
4
Chapter 5
5
Chapter 6
6
Chapter 7
7
Chapter 8
8
Chapter 9
9
Chapter 10
10
Chapter 11
11
Chapter 12
12
Chapter 13
13
Chapter 14
14
Chapter 15
15
Chapter 16
16
Chapter 17
17
Chapter 18
18
Chapter 19
19
Chapter 20
20
Chapter 21
21
Chapter 22
22
Chapter 23
23
Chapter 24
24
Chapter 25
25
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The Progressive Era and Immigration Quotes in How the Other Half Lives
Below you will find the important quotes in How the Other Half Lives related to the theme of The Progressive Era and Immigration.
Introduction Quotes
Might not the conference have found in the warning of one Brooklyn builder, who has invested his capital on this plan and made it pay more than a money interest, a hint worth heeding: “How shall the love of God be understood by those who have been nurtured in sight only of the greed of man?”
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Riis is referring to a recent conference held by a number of Christian denominations concerned about how to convert tenement residents to Christianity, and make sure they become good and moral citizens. Riis embraces Christianity himself and agrees that it would be ideal for tenants (who are often foreign and/or of different faiths) to convert; but here he exposes the irony that many people, often ostensibly Christians themselves, have exploited the city’s poorest residents—giving them a warped sense of what Christianity really is. Later, Riis will cite another Brooklyn builder and name him as Mr. A.T. White, whose “model tenements” Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ips
Chapter 2 Quotes
Where are the tenements of to-day? Say rather: where are they not?
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How the Other Half Lives uses a combination of photographs, statistics, anecdotes, and highly visual depictions in order to vividly portray particular neighborhoods of New York—neighborhoods that Riis assumes remain largely unknown to his readers, even if Manhattan is small enough that they are geographically quite close. At the same time, he underlines here that such neighborhoods have only spread at increasing rates over the course of the past century. Formerly confined to the areas below Fourteenth Street, he argues, it is increasingly impossible to answer where they are not, because they can be found on the East Side, West Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt.
Chapter 3 Quotes
In their place has come this queer conglomerate mass of heterogeneous elements, ever striving and working like whiskey and water in one glass, and with the like result: final union and a prevailing taint of whiskey.
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Riis has just asked where “Americans” can be found in tenement-house neighborhoods—by which he implicitly means white Christians without an accent, rather than any official or legal definition of an American citizen. Riis himself was a Danish immigrant, but as a good Progressivist he insisted that assimilation into mainstream American norms was the only means of success for immigrants. Here, he uses a carefully chosen simile in order to express his suspicion of the many different kinds of people to be found in New York’s poorest neighborhoods. Riis’s book pays close attention to the problem of alcoholism in these neighborhoods, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beat
Chapter 7 Quotes
The meanest thief is infinitely above the stale-beer level. Once upon that plane there is no escape. To sink below it is impossible; no one ever rose from it. One night spent in a stale-beer dive is like the traditional putting on of the uniform of the caste, the discarded rags of an old tramp.
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These are harsh words that Riis uses to condemn the “stale-beer dives” or unofficial, unlicensed, and often ephemeral gathering places for “tramps” to drink beer, places scattered throughout tenements that last until being broken up by the police. Riis’s contrast of the tramps that frequent these establishments with thieves is meant to highlight what he sees as a greater evil even than crime: idleness and refusal to work. Thieves, at least in his account, are often pushed into crime by desperation: even if they do something illegal, at least they’re attempting to feed themselves (and often their family) by acting. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus
Chapter 9 Quotes
At the risk of distressing some well-meaning, but, I fear, too trustful people, I state it in advance as my opinion, based on the steady observation of years, that all attempts to make an effective Christian of John Chinaman will remain abortive in this generation; of the next I have, if anything, less hope.
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This statement introduces Riis’s chapter in which he describes Chinatown, and inevitably colors how he hopes his reader will think about Chinese immigrants as well. For Riis, assimilation is what all immigrants to America should strive for—and this quotation underlines his assumption that one assimilates into American society by becoming a Christian. That he denies in advance all possibility of assimilation to the Chinese thus reflects both his narrow view of American culture and his suspicion of this entire national group, and of its place in New York. Readers would have been familiar with the name “John Chinaman,” a caricature Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrup
Granted, that the Chinese are in no sense a desirable element of the population, that they serve no useful purpose here, whatever they may have done elsewhere in other days, yet to this it is a sufficient answer that they are here, and that, having let them in, we must make the best of it.
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As Riis concludes the chapter, he positions himself as compassionate and liberal-minded compared to his contemporaries. Many people at the time, indeed, believed that certain immigrant groups should be sent back to their country of residence and/or that further immigration should be limited or even banned. Riis doesn’t quite say that this is a bad idea. He agrees with his imaginary interlocutors that the Chinese are “undesirable” and “useless,” thus continuing to engage easily with the casual racism that has characterized much of this chapter about Chinatown. But his version of prejudice results in different policy aims to those of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Pe
Chapter 11 Quotes
I state but the misgivings as to the result of some of the practical minds that have busied themselves with the problem. Its keynote evidently is the ignorance of the immigrants. They must be taught the language of the country they have chosen as their home, as the first and most necessary step.
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As Riis concludes the chapters he’s devoted to the Jewish neighborhoods, he asks how the condition of people working here, usually manufacturing cheap clothing, might be improved—though he is eager to stress that this must be done without promoting “pauperism” or charity without any conditions attached. For Riis, Jewish workers in New York are directly responsible for unsustainably low profit margins in clothing manufacturing (while he often wants to stress the corruption of powerful, invisible, and usually wealthy forces in these neighborhoods, he also argues at times that the source of many problems comes from the vulnerable populations themselves). As Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimu
Chapter 20 Quotes
But of the thousands, who are travelling the road they trod to the end, with the hot blood of youth in their veins, with the love of life and of the beautiful world to which not even sixty cents a day can shut their eyes—who is to blame if their feet find the paths of shame that are “always open to them”?
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In this chapter, Riis has turned a sympathetic eye to the plight of women in tenement neighborhoods, who are often paid even less than the men, and many of whom nonetheless have to support a family on their own. After describing one pair of working sisters whose lives deteriorated, rather than improved, over the decades since they immigrated to the United States, Riis contrasts these now elderly ladies to the many young women around them. Given that their youth and beauty are prized by a world that sees no other place for them, Riis asks us not to judge or Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta.
Chapter 21 Quotes
Tenement-house reform holds the key to the problem of pauperism in the city. We can never get rid of either the tenement or the pauper. The two will always exist together in New York. But by reforming the one, we can do more towards exterminating the other than can be done by all other means together that have yet been invented, or ever will be.
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Although Riis has seemed before to imply that the situation he’s exposing can be eradicated, here he expresses a greater measure of moderation or humility as he admits the limits of his project. In part, this is because Riis believes that, given the specific context of New York, it’s impossible to ever entirely do away with tenements—and where tenements exist, paupers will fill them. But Riis emphasizes the close connection between housing conditions and social behaviors, one that he’s stressed in various ways throughout the book. He also implies that historical efforts to combat pauperism have failed in large part Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor aspe
Chapter 25 Quotes
The sea of a mighty population, held in galling fetters, heaves uneasily in the tenement. […]
I know of but one bridge that will carry us over safe, a bridge founded upon justice and built of human hearts.
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The final, closing image of How the Other Half Lives is ostensibly drawn from a visit that Riis paid to a beach accessible from New York—though, he implies, not truly accessible for most of the tenant residents whose lives he’s explored. It’s summertime and the sea is calm, but he’s heard that in winter it grows stormy and can even burst over the bluff holding it back. Here Riis compares that winter’s sea to the many New Yorkers “fettered” in squalid living conditions (residents whom he’s already characterized as “crowds” or “swarms,” similarly anonymous and ominous). The tenements, like the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aper
