Poverty Exposed in Elva Treviño Harts Autobiography,...

Life for young Elva Trevià ±o Hart was less than ideal and in her autobiography, Barefoot Heart she vividly explains the back-breaking work, financial hardships, and emotional struggles a migrant worker faces. Influenced by the struggles of day-to-day life, migrant work, school life, and society, Elva was shown over and over again what life would be like if she did not make an effort to change her predestined life. All too commonly people like Elva Trevià ±o who are born into poverty will remain living in such conditions for the rest of their lives; however, growing up in poor conditions will have a great positive influence the life decisions someone like Elva makes. Many people at one time or another will face some-sort of economic†¦show more content†¦The blue jeans were an embarrassment for her when she was around her white friends because they had a large hole. Sadly, being poor led Elva to be embarrassed many times throughout her young life. Her housing conditions wer e not much better than her holey jeans. The entire family lived in migrant housing which, unlike the Waldorf Astoria, is not known for its accommodations. â€Å"The coldness of the floor and the excitement of our new life made me jump out of my makeshift bed on the floor† (10). In reading that passage one might just see a little girl who is excited to start her new life, but what I saw was a little girl who had just slept on a cold floor all night. Despite how hard Elva might try to normalize the negative situations from her childhood they ultimately affected her life for the positive. Hard and honest work was instilled in all members of the Trevià ±o family by the time they were able to pick up a hoe. Modern day parents and many social workers would look at Apa like a slave driver working his wife and kids to the point of exhaustion on a daily basis. The Trevià ±o kids were not given the opportunity to have a carefree childhood. â€Å"He was taking a bunch of children to Minnesota, but he didn’t see it that way. My father knew nothing about children. He treated us like adults, expecting adult responses from us. We were a team going to work† (12). From a post-toddler age these kids were treated as adults and expected to work