Down and Out in Paris and London.George Orwell. In his first major work,published in 1933,Orwell explores poverty and destitution in two affluent cities.In part one of this semi-autobiographical novel,he provides a vivid,immersive and at times humourous insight into the lives of those existing near the bottom of Parisian society.Living in a flea infested slum in Paris's Latin Quarter,he gets a job as a lowly dishwasher in the grand Hotel X,to experience at first hand the lives of the working poor,(and to gather material for his book).He works with his friend Boris,a former officer in the Imperial Russian army who fled Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution to rebuild his life in Paris.Orwell contrasts the opulent grandeur of the Hotel X,as enjoyed by its rich patrons,with the filthy squalid working conditions of the staff,whose low pay and long hours of mindless drudgery enable the wealthy clientele to indulge their every whim. Orwell sought to draw the attention of his comfortable,middle-class readers to the dichotomy between the luxury enjoyed by the hotel guests and the poverty of the staff,which he saw as an allegory of the socio-economic inequality that characterised the wider capitalist system.
In part two,Orwell returns to England,and takes 'slumming it' to a whole new level. Donning a tramps clothes,he lives with the poorest of the poor,the vagrants and down and outs of 1930s London.He encounters degrees of filth and squalor that overwhelm his sensitive middle-class sensibilities,as he seeks nightly accommodation in various dirty,malodorous, vermin-infested dosshouses.He and the genuine down and outs are constantly moved on from one workhouse casual ward,or 'spike' to another.Yet even amongst the throw outs of the capitalist system,he meets characters like Bozo,a pavement artist,and amateur astronomer,unable to work because of an accident that left him disabled.He impresses Orwell with his knowledge and love of astronomy,one evening pointing out the various bright stars and constellations in the night sky.Bozo accepts his fate with stoicism and dignity.He is the embodiment of the human spirit,struggling to survive against the oppression of brutal uncaring capitalism,before the introduction of the post-war welfare state.This is a book that all those who would seek to undemine or abolish the welfare safety net should be required to read.Be careful what you wish for.
