Poor People by William T. Vollmann

Author:William T. Vollmann [Vollmann, William T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

8

Just when I begin to feel certain that class estrangement is fundamental to the experience of poverty, I remember Sunee, and question myself. Moreover:

It is indeed cause for envy when a single private residence is honored by repeated imperial visits, and when it sees its daughters depart for the palace, one after another, to become Empresses, opines that famous eleventh-century Japanese chronicle, A Tale of Flowering Fortunes, and so far we would all agree; but the tale goes on to assure us: Human beings, in which are explicitly included the humblest of the humble, derive pleasure from the good fortune of others, just as they feel involuntary compassion in the face of suffering.

Did Sunee derive pleasure from the good fortune of her boss, the one who in her words had a very bad heart? More generally, did it please her to contemplate the class of people who were exempt from her routine of eight in the morning until five-fifteen at night? I cannot believe it. No matter how impossible it might be to change her destiny, no matter how much she believed that she deserved it (I never thought anyone would come to visit; I’m not an important person), I refuse to suppose that she could vicariously enjoy my good fortune …

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