How the Other Half Lives · Character

The Italian

A representative immigrant in the Bend and Mulberry Street alleys, carrying his slum with him and rising, when he rises, only by compulsion.

supporting

Also known as the Italian, himself

First appearance: The Italian in New York

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

Italian immigrants are shown living in the 'Bend' area, contributing to the ethnic diversity of the slums.

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He shares the crowded back alleys with the Russian and Polish Jew, two races hopelessly different yet alike in the tenements they reproduce wherever they settle. The narrator grants him color, heat, and a stubborn grip on life, but judges him harshly against the Teuton who makes a home of his tenement and leaves it the moment he can. His presence anchors the book's ethnic taxonomy—and its uncomfortable assumptions about who deserves to rise.

See The Italian in How the Other Half Lives Book page

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Character Web

11 connections

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Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Tenement Inhabitants and Reformers
Protagonist
Authority Figures and Ethnic Types

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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

The Italian appears across 13 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

How the Other Half Lives
Italian immigrants are shown living in the 'Bend' area, contributing to the ethnic diversity of the slums.
The Mixed Crowd
An Italian family pays exorbitant rent to an Irish landlord; the Italian tenant is threatened with eviction when he asks for a reduction.
The Italian in New York
Portrayed as a victim of exploitation by padrones, living in squalor, yet honest and hardworking, with a tendency toward gambling and violence.
VI: The Bend
The Italian population dominates 'the Bend,' filling the streets with market activity and occupying the tenements; the chapter notes their preference for the outdoors and their role in the overcrowding.
VII: A Raid on the Stale-Beer Dives
The Italian dive-keeper profits from the stale-beer trade, and the chapter notes that one such banker has become a wealthy macaroni manufacturer and landlord.
XI: The Sweaters of Jewtown
Referenced briefly in comparison to a shoemaker's ingenuity, suggesting the Italian's methods were less resourceful.
XIII: The Color Line in New York
Referenced as part of the lower white groups that Black tenants are compared to in the tenant scale.
XIV: The Common Herd
Noted for adopting expensive funeral customs, spending life savings on showy burials.
XIX: The Harvest of Tares
Mentioned indirectly as part of the tenement population; not a central figure in this chapter.
XXI: Pauperism in the Tenements
An Italian woman arrested for begging with a hired, sickly child; found to have bank savings of three thousand dollars.
XXIV: What Has Been Done
Cited as evidence of the instinct for cleanliness when properly cultivated, contrasting with his fatal contentment in filth.
XXV: How the Case Stands
An Italian mother with two naked children is seen on a tenement roof, illustrating the failure of cosmetic landlord fixes.
Endnotes
Referenced in endnote 7 regarding Italian tenements in Harlem sinking to the slum level.

Chapter companion notes

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See The Italian in The Italian in New York

See The Italian in How the Other Half Lives