# The Italian — How the Other Half Lives character guide

> The Italian in How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the Italian, himself

**First appearance:** 0009-v-the-italian-in-new-york

## Snapshot

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

## Who they are

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.

## In the story

### [How the Other Half Lives](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/iii-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/v-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/xiv-the-common-herd)

Noted for adopting expensive funeral customs, spending life savings on showy burials.

### [XIX: The Harvest of Tares](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/endnotes)

Referenced in endnote 7 regarding Italian tenements in Harlem sinking to the slum level.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/characters/the_italian
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/characters