Andrew Dickerson

Professor Nicole Harken

First Year Cornerstone UNIV 1000-07
30 October 2015

Homelessness and How It Relates Between Orange Is the New Black & Rent
One of the major issues between Orange Is the New Black and Rent is the issue of
Homelessness. Homelessness is a huge issue within the United States, and many homeless
people either end up in prison, become homeless from being locked away for so long, some may
be born into poverty and homelessness, and still others may have a home but could soon face a
future with no home to stay in. This issue is very prevalent in both Orange Is the New Black and
Rents, it just takes a bit of thinking to figure out why the issue was even mentioned by the
authors because homelessness isnt the major issue in their stories. It really just seems to be a
side issue in both of these stories.
Within the story of Rent which revolves around the issues of squatters, drug use, and
sexuality the issue of homelessness can still be seen. Towards the beginning when it was
mentioned that Ben the landlord was threatening to shut down Mark and Rodgers home. This is
a direct threat to potentially being homeless for Mark and Rodger. Homelessness is also
mentioned in the play several times with Bens commands to have a local protest against
homelessness be called off that was being organized by Maureen. This is done to no avail
throughout the story.

Many people in prison end up homeless because of how long theyve been in the federal
system. Characters like Pop in Orange Is the New Black have been serving a very considerable
sentence. After the inmate has served his or her sentence there is often no place for them to go
afterwards, sure the prison in Orange Is the New Black does have a type of release program and
halfway houses are even a thing for former prisoners to go to and try to get back on their feet.
But even after they go through the program and the halfway house many former prisoners have
no idea what to do.
People who start out homeless can also end up in prison too, sometimes for the best.
People who start out homeless may just be trying to get by with little means they have, and some
may even resort to criminal activities just to keep themselves or their families going. Others may
not have anywhere else to turn and therefore result to criminal activities such as drug use,
stealing, and murder.
Its a wonder why so many people are homeless because of the governments and societies
tendency to ignore these types of problems. The governments and societies blind eye can be
seen in Orange Is the New Black with the way in which prisoners are treated after they get out of
prison, sure they may get to a halfway house and be given resources to help them get back on
their feet, but these resources will eventually run out, and then what? These ex-convicts really
have nowhere else to go except to fall back into the rut of ruin and continue to commit acts that
will eventually lead back to homelessness for many of them.
This rut can also be evident in the setting of Rent. Even though the main characters arent
in fact homeless the threat still looms over them. The issue of homelessness is actually seen
much more clearly when homeless people actually appear in the storyline. This is very obviously
seen when Mark starts to film a homeless lady being harassed by police officers as she tries to

catch up on her sleep under a newspaper. The police officers reactions to the lady really show
how the government just turns a blind eye, they only tell her to move and treat her like the scum
of the earth, not giving one second of thought to actually help the individual. Because of this
unkindness the lady responds the Mark filming her with bitter distaste telling him in essence to
get lost.
Later throughout the play even more distaste can be seen by the homeless population
when they sign a joyful Christmas song but with their own unique snarks and gestures to indicate
their true displeasure for the holiday.
Both authors of Orange Is the New Black and Rent wrote their respected works most
likely because of their personal experiences and how they relate to the characters stories. Piper
Kerman, the author of Orange Is the New Black, tells her story of being imprisoned in a
minimum security womens prison and really exposes the corruption in the federal justice
system, even though she may have had an altered view of reality because of her ethnic
background and hasnt ever really had to deal with homelessness like perhaps many others
prisons in the prison system.
Jonathan Larson, the author of Rent, really connected many of his experiences to his
masterpiece of a play. He lived in similar situations and could relate very well to the characters
he created. Larson was really trying to bring forward the hush issues of the 90s, the issues of
homelessness, AIDS, sexuality, drugs, and many more. He was trying to make these issues more
known and perhaps even get a societal acceptance for these issues to be fixed and accepted.
In all honesty there are many issues connecting Orange Is the New Black with Rent,
many of these issues are very obvious because they play directly into the story line such as

sexuality. But some issues are a side issue to the actual plots of the stories such as homelessness.
Homelessness isnt brought forward in either story but it can be implied with how prisoners get
into prison and where they may end up after prison in Orange Is the New Black. Homelessness is
also seen as an issue that governments have to deal with but usually do not and the threat of
living without a home is always looming over the poorer class as seen in Rent.