George Orwell is issued a challenge, one that seems near next to impossible to defeat.

University Degree Linguistics, Classics and related subjects

S.Dhillon

George Orwell is issued a challenge, one that seems near next to impossible to defeat. The challenged offered by Victor Gollanez, a left – wing publisher. Orwell is to stay in Wigan Pier, the Northern part of Britain, and write about his experience. This experience influenced Orwell’s political views, and strengthened his perspective on the position of class.

Orwell is a pro socialist who believes that the depression of a country is all blamed on the system. Living alongside miners, he is shown conditions which his ‘bourgeoisie’ side hasn’t been exposed to before. The miners, who work countless hours despite being underpaid, are looked down upon as dirty and as if they do not bath, by the middle class. Orwell is led to believe that the reason the miners are this way is the result of industrialism and the system they live in: “You cannot disregard them if you accept the civilization that produced them.” (Orwell,14). The historical events, and ‘money – grubbing’ people have let all this happen: “…and this is where it all led...with sickly aging people creeping round and round like them black beetles.” Orwell notices that the ‘slum’ people can’t help it as he watches this young woman, in the depths of survival, who “knew exactly what was happening to her.”

Another aspect of the masses that Orwell exaggerates is ‘the smell, the dominant and essential thing, is indescribable.” Here, Orwell shows his ‘snobbishness’ which is later in the book diminished as he interacts with the working class. The Bourgeoisie has grown up to believe this of the working class.

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The lower-class people live in poor conditions, and are more prone to diseases (such as Tuberculosis). Overcrowding in cities is a problem, where there are four beds to eight people and the increase of population is not to blame, but the government is. It even seems that to even have children is an issue. In large amounts of caravans, where many families may live in, Orwell feels that the system is to blame for their situation. The government is aware of what is going on but are not doing anything about it: “local authorities are reticent about them” “…and the census report of 1931 seems to have decided to ignore them” this comment is towards the caravan colonies in the industrial areas. The Corporation are trying to build houses, but aren’t quick enough, as the caravans remain to stay. The blame is put on house shortages as a result of poverty – too many families and too little houses, are available (something livable at least).

The definition of “slum clearance” is when the system helps the poor achieve proper housing, but this didn’t work as they focused strictly on housing and not the neighborhood itself. Orwell is aware that the political and influential leaders try to encourage this slum clearance but don’t see the reality behind it. It’s strictly not working; it’s not helping anyone, just destroying.

On to working in these times, the workers of the country pay more for their houses than the Corporate owners do. The Corporate owners get fancy houses, as the working class is still entitled to only the dirt of houses.

Then to switch sides, there are Corporate houses, where the middle-class people have it ten times better off than the working class, but still think its not good enough for them. The poor aren’t taking anything they have for granted, yet the ‘upper’ class still seem to complain.

Unemployment is an issue that not even the unemployed can control. As Orwell believes, it is an issue which is managed by the system, and the people are just victims of it. The “fat-bellied’ folks believe that the only reason a worker is unemployed is because he is lazy, which is wrong. When there is no work available or available with almost any benefits, anyone would rather sit on the ‘dole’. The statistics of these unemployed are all under-estimated. Organizations under the government, such as the UAB (Unemployment Assistance Board), the PAC (Public Assistant Committee), and the Means Test, are there just for mere survival. All these government controlled organizations and methods, do nothing for the people of its country. The NUWM which gives legal advice against the Means Test, are respected as they themselves ‘ragged and underfed.’

The death rates have gone higher, infant morality rate is at its worse, and the men are weaker in health. The mentality of the English governing class is to ‘condemn’ families to live on 30 shillings, and then, “tell ‘em how to spend their money.” People are forced to scramble for food as they do for coal, and these are the causes of Industrialism.

The reason that English Socialists are unlikely to change the situation would be because they will never change themselves. George Orwell is certain that if society and people remain to keep class distinctions, they will never have a stable and ‘clean’ system. In conflict, the bourgeoisie are raised in a way that they ‘smell’ the proletarian, and recognize a distinction between the classes. There is obvious ‘snobbishness,’ and an atmosphere that the upper people see themselves better then everyone beneath them. The middle class think that the “working classes are dirty; therefore they are by choice and not by necessity.” He wants the classes to see each other in different perspectives, outside their own circles, to get rid of class distinctions. Orwell, in chapter 9, describes the Burmese human body, and how they are different than white men – yet they are ‘better’ looking in his opinion. People are unable to escape the middle class system. The middle class system “hated imperialism” but “in order to hate imperialism you have got to be part of it.” Orwell expresses his prejudice views as he comes to unjust conclusions such as “all government is evil” and “people can be trusted to behave decently, if only you will let them alone.”

Orwell gives his views which are purely subjective, and justifies it by what he observes. His political views are views with prejudice and he is fearless when mentioning the upper and middle classes. Orwell is basically alluding to the classes as being hypocrites. Theoretically, concluding that the Bourgeoisie is in control of the socialism movement, than the working class is. That the ‘machine’ development is more involved in the movement, then one would predict, and the ‘progressives’ wouldn’t mind to “reduce the world to something resembling a chess-board.” Orwell thinks that an effective Socialist party would be the only solution to the conditions hovering over the northern part of Britain. Yet, there is no such thing as an ‘effective’ Socialist party, which would only lead to Fascism. Orwell comes to the conclusion that no one really is interested in solving the problem, and “a man without a collar,” will never be respected unless he falls to the ‘suicide” of Fascism. Therefore, closing that Socialism is impossible.