Angela's Ashes and the Color of Water both demonstrate behavior that can be considered a family living in poverty. A deprived family is one that fails to meet some or all of the basic needs of its members. Sometimes these needs, such as food, shelter or clothing are so basic that people take them for granted. More often, emotional needs, such as the need for love, support and security go unmet. Drugs, alcoholism, death, abandonment, starvation and anxiety are some characteristics of a deprived family that can be found in both Angela's Ashes and The Color of Water. Just because a family is poor does not mean its members do not love each other.

In the Color of Water the stepfather dies creating an new and unhealthy en

The children never realized that they were living a different life than other kids until they were sent to school and James, the youngest of twelve children asks his mother why she doesn't look like the other children's mom's. Not only are they living in different atmosphere's enduring situations that most kids didn't have to endure, but their mother was white, the kids were mixed and the people in their neighborhood were all black. Their family were outcasts. James and his siblings learned to deal with the color of their skin, the death of loved ones, poverty, the scarcity of food and the fact that they did not know where they came from. The children often thought about where their mother was from. 'We traded information on Mommy the way people traded baseball cards at trade shows, offering bits and pieces of information fraught with gossip, nonsense, wisdom and sometimes just plain foolishness'. [McBride] The only good thing that comes out of poverty is strength. Sometimes !

One time I thought she was trying to make me come and lay her-flirting to her self at sink-lay back On huge bed that filled of the room, dress up round her hips,

vironment for the family. As the mother is now forced to raise her twelve children alone, she is forced to take on even more responsibility. Rachel Shilisky never before had a job. She was struggling to make ends meet. Playing games with her children to determine who was going to eat dinner and breakfast that day. The winners would eat and the losers would suffer because their family was living in poverty.

Perhaps the most shocking part of the poem details young Allen's perceptions of his mother as a sexual predator.

identity and his emotional journey through confusion. Both help the reader to celebrate life and never take it for granted.

The poem is a most stunning and emotional story that speaks of truth. As a young boy growing up in New Jersey, Allen watched his mother succumb to a s

Some common words found in the essay are:
Jersey Allen, Rachel Shilisky, Color Water, DePaul Society, James McBride, Allen Ginsburg, Rachel Shilsky's, Ashes Frank, North Rache, Limerick Ireland, color water, angela's ashes, angela's ashes color, ashes color water, ashes color, angela's ashes frank, deprived family, broke family, james mcbride, wasting dole money, twelve children, family living poverty, struggling meet, family friends, children mother,
Approximate Word count = 1309
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)