Anna Quindlen addresses her impressions of people with no permanent place of residence she encountered while planning material for them in Homeless. She also applies to the global concept of homelessness, which has redefined what it is to be at home. Interestingly, Quindlen does not begin her essay with a generalization of what it means to be homeless but instead tells the true story of Ann: "Her name was Ann, and we met in the Port Authority Bus Terminal many Januaries ago" (Quindlen). The metaphor behind the phrase "We turn the adjective into the noun (Quindlen)" is a truly incredible if one thinks of linguistic meanings of the words noun and adjective.
Adjectives and Nouns
Adjectives are used to give people and objects general characteristics so that it would be easier to recognize them. However, adjectives are not what the objects or people truly are and the characteristics they embody someone or something might turn out to be nothing but formal statements. It is the noun that stands for what objects and people truly are by answering the questions What is it? and Who is it?.
Which is to say, for homeless people, homeless is just the adjective that reveals the fact that they have been through some struggle that deprived them of permanent homes. Yet, people are so clueless and cruel that they choose to see homeless as a noun, or a permanent and defining characteristic of the homeless people. This unfortunate choice is nothing but simply labeling and judging those who deserve empathy.
Seeing Beyond Stereotypes
By promoting the word homeless to a noun, people forget that the real noun in the phrase homeless people is people. Being people is the only thing that unites all of the homeless humans. Each of them has their own unique background story that entirely differs from others even if some details of biographies are similar. All in all, the only way to reduce the issue of homelessness is for everyone to start seeing real personality and the story behind the stereotype of a homeless person.
Work Cited
Quindlen, Anna. “Homeless”. Newsweek, 1987.
