Diary Of Carolina Maria De Jesus

            The Diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus is an excellent book which tells a horrible story. The sufferings are inhumane and the favelados have no way of improving their conditions. They drown their sorrows in alcohol, fight amongst themselves, neglect and abuse their children, and blame all their problems on the politicians. While their problems do stem from political and social neglect, they are also produced from the favelados' own behavior. The politicians come before the elections and secure votes with meaningless promises and the favelados are forgotten until the next election.
             Carolina Maria seems to be one of the few literate or somewhat educated people in the favela. She tries to find explanations for the way she and others like her live and most of the time she finds the answer in politics or to be more exact, in politicians themselves. The first time we hear her speak about politics is right after she has her legs operated on and she is talking about Carlos Lacerda. "He is a slum politician. He likes intrigues, to agitate". And someone pitied that he wasn't killed during an attempted assassination. (P. 20). As can be seen from the endnote in the book, he only propagated social reform and was known for his speeches. The speeches will lure the poor in at the voting poles but will give them nothing in return. The favelados and the likes of them will stay poor and the rich will become richer.
             The people in the neighborhood that surrounds the favela are resentful of the favelados. Nobody likes to see poverty around them because it is ugly and hateful. "The neighbors in the brick houses signed a petition to get rid of the favelados. [They say] The politicians protect the favelados" (P.34). I don't think that it is true. The politicians need the favelados in order to be elected. The number of the favelas is growing because more and more people are out of work and they grow more desperate by the day.