Loyalkas Life Story Analysis - 1649 Words

Cities across the world are rapidly urbanizing across the world with the emergence of megacities. China is one of the many countries rapidly urbanizing with many cities expanding and bringing people in. China’s rapid urbanization of cities brings a lot of changes to people all across China. Many people in the city prosper and others are left behind by the emergence of the new city. People constantly migrate to the cities in search for better job opportunities and the promises of a better life. Loyalka uses a life-story method to communicate the effects of city expansion on common people. Through these life stories Loyalka explains how the growth of urban areas create opportunities for many people but also leave many people with†¦show more content†¦Sacrifices are made in many families hoping their children move up the social ladder of society. It is like a vicious cycle in a way as families need more money to pay for the best schools for their children. The separati on of family can cause a lot of tension within a family as Xiao Shi finds out her own daughter’s thoughts through her diary where her daughter asks â€Å"‘Why did I have to be born into this kind of family’†(Loyalka 163)? In search for upward mobility in society families are separated. Xiao Shi, like many rural workers in urban areas, is in a crossroads between two worlds. She only goes home for holidays and lives full time with the family she works for. She is not a full migrant to the city either as her home is still in the countryside. Xiao Shi and her are able to â€Å" enjoy a taste of the high life without all the headaches and side effects that go along with it† (Loyalka 181). Many of rural workers of the countryside have a taste of life in the city without fully being a part of the city either. These workers try to work to support their families and migrate to these cities in search for opportunities not found in their own homes in the countryside. Another life story Loyalka tells is of a family who even with a home are technically homeless. This family is living in land the government bought for the development of buildings for the further expansion ofShow MoreRelatedExperiencing Urbanization Via Life Story Method1734 Words   |  7 PagesExperiencing Urbanization via Life-Story Method Urbanization of lands in China have had a prominent effect on the lives of its people, including the inhabitants of both the peripheral and central cities throughout the country. In Eating Bitterness: Stories from the Front Lines of China s Great Urban Migration, Michelle Loyalka writes about the changes that a developing China brings onto the people of Gan Jia Zhai, a village that is relatively close to Xi’an, a much more developed and industrialized