Chapter 14: Living without Class Hierarchy Summary and Analysis

Most Americans do not recognize class difference and continue to believe that ours is a classless society. Bell has tried to portray the struggle of the few, like her, who are able to squeeze their way up from the working class to the upper class. Although she has written many books and made great amounts of money, writing about classism and the experiences and struggles of her family and friends still leave her weeping when putting them down on paper.

Bell has given lectures on poverty, recalling how relatives at times lived without services such as electricity and phones. These people lived in pain—the pain of doing without and the pain of not knowing if or when there would be an end to their misery. As a progressive, she advocates the...