My first impression of Flavio's Home was that it seemed to be a very sad story. It spoke of the horrors of poverty and Flavio's strength to survive and even the courage to accept death without even thinking about himself but of his brothers and sisters. Flavio's Home is about the life of a 12 year old boy who has the responsibility of an adult, is able to accept this responsibility and still remain vibrant and hopeful even thought he is suffering form physical illness, poverty, overwork and worry.
             Throughout the story Gordon Parks explains in detail Flavio's life, but the thing that seemed most significant to him was how Flavio was able to still smile even though he has such a hard life. While being only a child himself Flavio is able to care for his younger brothers and sisters by preparing food, clean their home and even instructing them to wash themselves. While Flavio and his brothers and sisters accepted Gordon Parks presence their father was not too pleased. He viewed them skeptically as he was not sure of their intentions. The story gave the impression that Flavio was afraid of his father. This may have been so as his father left most if not all of the decisions of the household to Flavio so he expected that all the children would be washed and that dinner would be ready for him when he returned home.
             Flavio and his family lived in a shack near the top of a mountainside. It was a leaning crumpled place of old planking with a rusted tin roof. Inside of the shack was a stove, which consisted of a rusted, bent top of an old gas range resting on several bricks, a sagging bed and a broken baby's crib. The shack itself was six by ten feet. The walls were a patch work of misshapen boards with large gaps between them, the floor consisted of rotting layers of grease and dirt, caught shafts of light slanting down through spaces in the roof. A large hole in the corner served as a toilet. From Go
             ...