Driven to Despair by Jessica Bruder Article Analysis

Jessica Bruden is a journalist that usually writes about certain topics regarding subculture and social values. She is also commonly known for producing the film “Nomadland”. It’s often debated whether she is implying an argument in her articles, or if she’s simply just presenting information. Based on her article on Doug Schifter, it might seem that she is simply presenting information because she is narrating Doug Schifter’s life, but I think she is actually trying to use this narration as a way of implying an argument.

Towards the end of her article, she starts discussing how there were other cases of Taxi Drivers committing suicide, and she stated “Schifter wasn’t even the first driver to kill himself. Two months earlier, in separate incidents, two livery drivers — Alfredo Pérez and Danilo Corporán Castillo — had committed suicide. Castillo, 57, had jumped from the roof of his Harlem apartment building after learning that he might lose his license for picking up unauthorized street hails”. It seems like she is attempting to use these suicides as a method of implying/making a point about the issues that caused these Taxi Drivers to kill themselves.

Another important thing to consider is that in the article, Jessica Bruden also talks about how there were over one hundred taxi drivers that went to City Hall after the incident to protest their issues with not making enough money.  In her article, she quoted the taxi drivers shouting “No more loss! No more death! We need action now!” At this point, it seems like it’s not just about Doug Shifter, but it's about taxi drivers not being able to make enough money due to different driving services, which is the point that it looks she’s trying to make.

She had a very captivating way of trying to convey her point at the end of the article, when she talked about how the taxi drivers protested for a short period of time and then they had to stop and go back to work.  She stated that “They need to be out working!” he barked. They don’t have the luxury to come out here and protest. Then, after an hour of chanting and speeches, everyone put down their signs and headed back to work”. She is describing how their economic situations were so bad that they couldn't continue protesting their issues, and they had to go back to and try to make money.

As demonstrated in her article, Jessica Bruden narrated Doug Shifters life and used the suicides and protests as methods of pointing out that there are issues that taxi drivers are facing, especially because of the different driving services that exist, causing competition.