Analysis Of George Orwell's Down And Out In Paris And Paris

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The power of one’s perspective plays a large role in different types of socio-economic positioning. Poverty, a historic and prevalent issue, can be most clearly addressed by evaluating the lifestyles, traits, and characteristics of the lower, middle, and upper societal classes. Likewise, literature offers intensifying insights on the experiences of the destitute. George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London introduces the differentiation of societal perspectives on poverty in order to emphasize the plight of the lower classes and the pride of the upper classes. Through the linguistics of literature and narrative, Orwell describes social classes and circumstances as they revolve around finances, residency, and employments. Throughout the …show more content…

Furthermore, they viewed the affluent lifestyles of the rich as lavish and wasteful. As a social class nowhere near middle or luxury status, all social norms are disposed of when your sole job is to survive. Yet, Orwell wrote from the perspective of the lower class to exploit the economic injustices of the upper classes. According to Gordon Beadle’s publication by Hofstra University on George Orwell’s Literary Studies of Poverty in England, “Orwell went so far as to assert that ‘economic injustice will stop the moment we want it to stop, and no sooner, and if we genuinely want it to stop the method adopted hardly matters.’ Orwell’s criticism of society is moral criticism, an appeal to the conscience and better nature of the nation” (Beadle 192-193). Through the novel’s plotline, Orwell attempted to address an issue greater than economic diversity including homelessness and impoverishment. He sought to address economic injustice, which planted its roots in the stinginess and arrogance of the upper classes. The perception of the upper societal classes in the eyes of the lower class differed somewhat from reality, but primarily stuck to the point by addressing the rising issue of economic

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