preview

Analysis Of George Orwell 's ' The Road Of Wigan Pier '

Good Essays

George Orwell, an English socialist active during the 1930’s, was chosen to write a book about poverty, unemployment and living conditions of the working class by the Left Book Club. His book, The Road to Wigan Pier, revealed industrialism as the fundamental issue within English society and its effects on a depressed England. Industrialism, at the root of his argument, acts as the leading contributor to the harsh working conditions in mining towns and the astronomical poverty levels, but, also, the idea that socialism is the only solution to these problems. Orwell’s unrivaled honesty in Road led to a retaliation from many people, including one of his publishers that felt it necessary to add a foreword rebuking Orwell’s argument. However, it opens up the grass root problems facing England during the 1930’s. Orwell starts his work by describing his stay at a working-class house. The Brookers ran a lodging house that is overrun with black beetles and crumbs. The house, noticeably in complete decay, is home to a handful of men that pay a substantial amount of their income to the Brookers. For Orwell, the stay is part of his investigation of the working and living conditions in industrial towns. What he learns and learns will not be forgotten. From Mrs. Brooker wiping her plump, oversized face on scraps of torn off newspaper, to Mr. Brooker serving dirty, blackened bread to the tenants, Orwell receives a repulsive look into the everyday lives of the working-class. However,

Get Access