Crushed by poverty

Please read this post, and another one I will file tonight. When people are crushed by poverty, it has to be acknowledged, and loudly so. Otherwise, nothing will change. The following passage is a classic of 19th century literature:

"On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged, and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards the bridge. He had successfully avoided meeting his landlady on the staircase. His garret was under the roof of a high, five-stored house and was more like a cupboard than a room. The landlady, who provided him with garret, dinners and attendance, lived on the floor below, and every time he went out he was obliged to pass her kitchen, the door of which invariably stood open. Each time he passed the young man had a sick, frightened feeling, which made him scowl and feel ashamed. He was hopelessly in debt to his landlady, and was afraid of meeting her. He was crushed by poverty."

Opening lines of Crime and Punishment (1866), by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881).