How the Other Half Lives · Character

Jews

Russian and Polish Jews pack the tenements between Rivington and Division Streets, carrying their slums with them and rising, Riis insists, only by compulsion.

supporting

Also known as the Jews, the Polish Jews, many Russian Jews, themselves

First appearance: X: Jewtown

As a supporting figure in How the Other Half Lives, Jews is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Jewish immigrants are depicted as part of the overcrowded tenement population, facing poverty and harsh living conditions.

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In Riis's racial map of the Lower East Side, the Jews are the gray tide overrunning Jewtown and the sweater shops, disputing every back alley with the Italians. He grants them thrift and rabbinical discipline, yet faults them for dragging their old-world squalor along instead of shedding it at the dock. Their crowding sets the terms of the tenement problem his early chapters keep circling back to.

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Character Web

11 connections

A slice of how Jews sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Authority Figures and Ethnic Types
Protagonist
Tenement Inhabitants and Reformers

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This chapter marks the dramatic climax because it reveals the irreversible psychological and moral turning poi…

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In the story

Jews appears across 12 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

How the Other Half Lives
Jewish immigrants are depicted as part of the overcrowded tenement population, facing poverty and harsh living conditions.
I: Genesis of the Tenement
Not directly mentioned in this chapter excerpt.
The Mixed Crowd
Russian and Polish Jews are described as aggressive in overrunning tenement districts, carrying their slums with them.
The Italian in New York
Contrasted with the Italian in terms of learning English; the Polish Jew learns English as an investment.
VI: The Bend
Jewish presence is noted on Bayard Street, the border of Jewtown, with Hebrew signs and chatter marking the transition to the Italian district.
X: Jewtown
The Polish and Russian Jewish community is the central focus, depicted as hardworking, thrifty, and crowded into tenements.
XI: The Sweaters of Jewtown
Polish Jewish immigrants are the primary workforce in the tenement sweatshops, arriving in droves and working under oppressive conditions.
XII: The Bohemians—Tenement-House Cigarmaking
Mentioned as the landlord-employers who often exploit Bohemian tenants, contrasting with the earlier depiction of Polish Jews.
XIII: The Color Line in New York
Mentioned as one of the low European types compared unfavorably to Black tenants in terms of cleanliness and orderliness.
XIV: The Common Herd
Mentioned in the context of the 'Poor Man's Court' and the broader tenement population.
XIX: The Harvest of Tares
A Jewish pedlar is robbed and assaulted by the Montgomery Guards; the narrator notes the victim was badly hurt.
Endnotes
Referenced in endnote 14 regarding the Tenth Ward and contiguous wards.

Chapter companion notes

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See Jews in X: Jewtown

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