ralph ellison, talked about poverty, and how it effected his thinking.

when he was poor, dirt poor, he felt compelled to look good, to have the best suits, the best shoes, the very best (even if he had to steal to get it)

but as he riched a level of success, and had some money, he realised he felt differently.

now, he didn't mind going out of the house with worn shoes, or ratty clothes.. HE knew, he had a closet full of good clothes, he could wear what ever he wanted, and if he didn't like anything in his closet, he could just go out and by something else.

stevenson had choices.. he could chose his footware, (and many other things in his life) with out worry.
we can speculate why he might have chosen those shoes, and the photo (before my time, too, but well known to me) didn't have a caption(nor were there other comments else about his poverty, his lacks (and leave him feeling more on the outs of society) but rather the whole thing was almost a joke.

Ellison (much better than i) brought together all the emotions about poverty and choice.


my other obsession