Child of The Dark written by Carolina Maria De Jesus, is A desperate, terrifying outcry from the slums of Sau Paulo says Newsweek. Testimony written by Victor Montejo is referred to as a clear storytelling voice that makes it chillingly human. Says San Francisco Sun. After reading theses reviews, neither piece of literature, written about 30 years apart gave me any disappointment during reading, besides the disappointment in how humans can treat other humans in such a horrendous way. The books can both be referred to as diaries or journals, about the events each author witnessed. Although each has a totally different story, there are many similarities in how they had to survive day to day. The genders and racial or ethnic status of each individual had a huge impact in how they lived their life.Maria De Jesus began writing her diary in the year of 1955. She was the mother of 3 children without a husband living in Brazil in an area called a fevela. I am used to being dirty. Ive carried paper for eight years. What disgusts me is that I must live in a Fevela(26) says Carolina. Carolina was a black woman that had to collect paper and scrap metal everyday in order to keep her and her family alive. The biggest struggle in her life was to keep her kids from starving. She said, Who has gone hungry learns to think of the future and of the children.(33)Carolina hated living in the Fevela but had no other choice. My dream is to be very clean, to wear expensive clothes and live in a comfortable house, but its not possible.(26) Carolina had no one in her life besides her 3 children and a few men that she occasionally slept with. She was looking for friendship because as she says the only thing that does not exist in the fevela is friendship(21) Instead of people as friends she thinks of her writings as her friends. Not only did she write her diary but she also wrote many other fictional stories. Although she did not write everyday, m...
