Laughter Out of Place: Chapters 4 & 5
par Natasha Ayers
1. Gang Life: Seen as the only way out of poverty, only way to avoid working as a slave
2. Gang Life: Male Dominance
3. Child-Centeredness of the Middle & Upperclasses
4. Mirelli: Prisoner of CHildhood
4.1. Broken childhood. Alcoholic Parents. Stray parents. Eating out of the garbage for meals. Incarcerated in detention centers. Started having kids by 14.
5. Gloria: Patron Saint of Felicidade Eterna
6. Girl children: da rua
6.1. Of the street. Presumably loose; accustomed to sexual advances from others. Permanently in a predicament to be taken advantage of.
7. Pedro Paulo: Anti-Abortion Irony
7.1. Believed his "woman" should be killed if she had an abortion, because it was murder on his child. Same man who ended up dead, not raising this child, or providing for this child due to his love of the gang-life.
8. Increasing violence over the years
9. Gangs: Necessary Evil
9.1. Violent but also peace-keeping. Like a local police force for every favela. Hero vs. vilain.
10. Drug Trafficking: Economic Importance
10.1. Elite & Middle Class people are the ones buying the drugs, reinforcing their economic prowess. Therefore, the elite and middle class are the ones perpetuating this gang activity.
11. Gangs: No Opportunity
11.1. The guys involved, if they had other legit options for building lives, they would not be doing this. Little opportunity means little ability to advance.
12. Guns: Symbol of Masculinity
12.1. Joining a gang meant one got a gun.
13. Gang as Medium
13.1. Serving as an in-between for the people of the favela and the police.
14. Abortion: Only mention of birth control.
14.1. Controversial. Male control.
15. Childhood:
15.1. Not when you're poor. However, completely opposite situation for the middle/ upper classes, where children reign supreme.
15.2. Family Values
15.2.1. Utterly Broken