User:Isthatso7/Poor Man's Pudding and Rich Man's Crumbs

"Poor Man's Pudding and Rich Man's Crumbs" is a short story written by Herman Melville and first published in Harper's Magazine in 1854.

Told in the first person narrative form, the story is divided into two parts or "sketches." In the first sketch, which takes place in an unnamed country village in the United States, the narrator recounts a discussion with a "poet" who attempts to explain how nature equalizes the differences between the poor and rich. Subsequently, the narrator describes a visit to a poor family's cabin for lunch, where the family describes their poverty, including the death of their children. In the second sketch, set in London, the narrator describes a guided visit to Guildhall, London, where the remains of an official dinner are distributed to a starving and ultimately unsated throng. His guide's pride at the event stands in sharp contrast to the wretched conditions that the narrator describes.

The story is a stark but sensitive portrayal of the conditions of poverty that obtain in both the U.S. and England. The narrator distances himself from the self-congratulatory reflections of both Americans and Britons who are satisfied with the ways that each society deals with problems of hunger and inequality of conditions.