we need new names novel

Social class and socioeconomic status are clearly important in We Need New Names. Darling lives in poverty in Paradise and sneaks into the more developed areas nearby, specifically the city Budapest, to steal from the wealthy. Bulawayo demonstrates how important mere circumstance is to one's social class since Darling and her family lived a seemingly comfortable middle-class life during her early childhood but were forced out of this life by a group of men in bulldozers. In Zimbabwe, many are kept in poverty by the changing economic system - especially the change to the dollar that makes the money many had saved up worthless. Bulawayo makes it clear that the poor are not lazy or stupid, depicting Darling's father and especially her mother as working tirelessly outside the home but still unable to afford even enough food for the small family. The entire community in Paradise is described as not wanting to move to the shanty town and leave their old lives behind, but after years of this kind of living, they necessarily settle into their roles there.