Due to the transformation of human civilization, the standards of human’s living have been improved speedily. Along with the social and economic developments from an agricultural society to a technological society, most countries have been urbanized into developed countries with advanced technology and better living conditions. In modern society, the vocabulary “social class” is not strange to us anymore, which refers to grouping people into a set of hierarchical divisions based on incomes, living areas, types of work, and social influences. The common classes include upper, middle, and lower class. Even though nowadays, more people have put their personal health …show more content…
In the book Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood illustrates the relationship between health and poverty throughout the theme “disease”. She uses this theme as a symbol of the segregation of social class in the urban areas. This paper will mainly focus on how health and poverty is inked together in both today’s world and the book according to three determinants: the social and economic environment, the physical environment, and the basic living necessities, as well as my personal responses towards the book and the health inequality issue.
The well-being of an individual and health depends on various circumstances. In today’s world, a person’s social class has a significant influence on their health. On a general bias, we often see that “rich people are healthier than the poor” because of their advantages on social and economic environment. In here, rich people refer to the upper and middle class while poor people indicate to the lower class or the grassroots. Based on this determinant, I agree that rich people are healthier than the poor since …show more content…
Personally, I enjoy the book and how Margaret Atwood uses “disease” to symbolize the segregation of rich and poor, and how it is related to the relationship between health and poverty, Noticeably, not all rich people are healthier than the poor because of their lifestyle choices, and not all the poor people will be burdened by diseases. However, in a general perspective, the upper and middle class are healthier than the lower class because of their advantage to the ability to choose their lifestyle, the access to medical care, and the high educated knowledge about health. Nowadays, the disparity of rich and poor has become a serious social problem, and it is hard to minimize the poverty gap as the society is continuously developing. However, in my opinion, health inequality can be reduced if the society is willing to take actions. To successfully make a change to the issue, every industry should cooperate with one another, such as the government should deeply understand the issue and set up policies to help the poor access to the healthcare system more, charity organizations or companies should provide more job opportunities for the lower class to improve their incomes, and schools should provide more health information, how to live healthier by changing the