by Greg Lawson

Created on: May 09, 2011

“My story ends here. It is a fairly trivial story and I can only hope that it has been interesting in the same way as a travel diary is interesting. I can at least say: Here is the world that awaits you if you are ever penniless.”(Pg.215) This quote is taken from the final chapter of Orwell’s novel, ‘Down and out in Paris and London’, and modestly summarises his chief motivation in writing the book. He was extremely interested in the bottom strata of society and wanted to capture a flavour of those masses of people surviving in the hardest conditions. But, on the whole, the book is not a depressing read. The clarity of Orwell’s prose gives the reader a real fly-on-the-wall view of life on the streets, especially with regard to its colourful characters; surprisingly, there are several amusing moments interspersed throughout.

'Down and Out in Paris and London' was first published in 1933 and was met with favourable reviews. The book is divided into two parts – the first part is set in Paris and the second in London. The narrator remains nameless throughout and the reader assumes much of the story is autobiographical. 

The Paris section is probably the most interesting half of the novel. Orwell has been living in a roughish apartment for about a year and a half when he has a stroke of bad luck. He loses his job as a private English teacher and one night a thief sneaks into his room and steals most of his money. Fortunately, Orwell has his rent covered for a few weeks but his situation gets increasingly desperate. He is forced to pawn his clothes and often goes without food for days. Orwell writes about his growing hunger: “Hunger reduces one to an utterly spineless, brainless condition…as though all one’s blood had been pumped out and lukewarm water substituted…complete inertia is my chief memory of hunger.”(Pg. 36)

With only a little money left, Orwell searches out a Russian friend called Boris and the two look for work together. Boris proves to be an entertaining sidekick to Orwell’s more serious nature. He is an experienced waiter and helps Orwell to eventually find a job as a ‘plongeur’ (a dishwasher) where he works extremely long hours in squalid conditions. Orwell says of being a plongeur: “…a plongeur is one of the slaves of the modern world…he is no freer than if he were bought and sold. His work is servile and without art; he is paid just

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