Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell - Essay Example

?Keep the Aspidistra Flying By George Orwell Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell gives the reader an excellent idea about the 1930’s London. This story is set after the First World War during the Era of Depression. The author has brought this period back to life by using words which paint a stark picture. The central character in this story is a young man called Gordon Comstock. Although he is only twenty-nine years old he has an extremely shabby appearance. In the words of the author “His coat was out at elbow in the right sleeve and its middle button was missing; his ready-made flannel trousers were stained and shapeless. Even from above you could see that his shoes needed resoling.” (Orwell, 2002) This makes it obvious to the reader that Gordon is a man who is down on his luck. The book can be interpreted in terms of reflecting on the values of the British society especially between the war period. Unfortunately Gordon has some very unattractive qualities which make it difficult for the reader to identify with him. He is a man obsessed with himself and wallowing in self-pity. He has a lot of intellectual arrogance and conceit. He professes to be a budding poet although his book has only sold about one hundred and fifty three copies. He firmly believes that it is only the lack of money which prevents him from turning out a masterpiece. In his own words “Snooty, refined books on safe painters and safe poets by those moneyed young beasts who glide so gracefully from Eton to Cambridge and from Cambridge to the literary reviews.” (Orwell, 2002) Here Gordon’s contempt for writers who do not dare to take any kind of risk but prefer to stick to safe topics is obvious. At the same time a tinge of envy is there in his words. He considers that their moneyed background offers these writers a blanket of security which is conspicuously lacking in his life. Actually through Gordon’s monologue we catch a glimpse of British Society during the post-war period. The British middle class values are also high-lighted in this book. It was a very class conscious society at that time. The British middle class had certain rigid standards by which they lived their lives. Thus at that time you were either a gentleman or an aristocrat. If you belonged to neither of these two categories then you were a member of the lower classes and you could expect to be treated with a certain degree of contempt. Actually here the author has tried to bring to the fore-front the false sense of values which governed the British Society in those days. So we see that although Gordon Comstock had no money he was still desperate to keep up appearances. For example in this passage, “Gordon walked homeward against the rattling wind, which blew his hair backward and gave him more of a 'good' forehead than ever. His manner conveyed to the passers-by--at least, he hoped it did--that if he wore no overcoat it was from pure caprice. His overcoat was up the spout for fifteen shillings, as a matter of fact.” (Orwell, 2002) Here Gordon’s behavior is typical of the class to which he belonged. He did not possess an overcoat and at the same time he was trying to convey the impression that this was just whimsical behavior on his part. There were one or two bright spots in Gordon’s life. One was his girlfriend Rosemary who loved him but refused to sleep with him. The other was his rich friend Philip Ravelston who tried to help him by publishing one of his books through his publishing contacts. Gordon formed the impression that his lack of money was the main reason behind Rosemary’s resistance to his advances. Although Gorden claimed to disdain money, at the same time he was obsessed with it. This is apparent from this passage. “It wasn’t merely the lack of money. It was rather that, having no money, they still lived mentally in the money-world--the world in which money is virtue and poverty is crime.” (Orwell, 2002) Gordon had little or no time for his relatives. Their genteel poverty and their helplessness was a source of irritation for him. Gordon is a character with whom it will be difficult for anyone to sympathize. He had great contempt for a well paying job which might have solved his economic problems. He preferred to adopt an air of intellectual superiority and dabbled in writing poetry. The irony was that as a poet he was a spectacular failure. His abject poverty sometimes forced him to face humiliating situations. By using the character of Gordon Comstock as an instrument the author has successfully brought to the limelight the petty and trivial things on which middle-class British society placed a lot of importance. Rosemary Waterlow acts as a perfect foil to Gordon’s character. Though he had numerous faults she still stood by him even when he was in a pitiable condition. In this context Stewart remarks, “As important as Gordon Comstock is to understanding the roles of doubleness and decency in Aspidistra, so is the character of Rosemary Waterlow whose ability to see the world through others’ eyes enables her to display a level of decency which Gordon cannot through most of the novel.” (Stewart, 2003, p.10) Through Gordon’s character Orwell has tried to depict the hypocrisy which was prevalent in British society at that time. Since Gordon is the central character in this novel it is up to the reader to decide what the author was trying to depict through him - “Gordon is representative of the hopeless class instinct that existed in England at that time” (Saunders, 2008, p. 65) Thus we see that Ravelston had to object when his upper-class girlfriend referred to the “lower classes.” Her snobbish reply was “the working class, if you like then. But they smell just the same.” (Saunders, 2008, p.65) Nothing brings out the class divide that existed in Britain better than this statement. The female characters in this novel are also strongly defined. Actually during this period the contribution of the women to the war effort was so great that the British Parliament in 1918 granted female British householders and the wives of householders over thirty the right to vote. There was a detectable shift in the way women were regarded by the society. Thus in this novel we see that Julia and Rosemary both exerted a positive influence on Gordon and brought him back to from artistic poverty to respectability. Here in this book the author has acknowledged that women can play an important and decisive role in a man’s life. During this period women were slowly gaining importance in Britain. But the British society still preferred to see them in traditional roles. This viewpoint is reflected in Orwell’s novel. Here we see that Rosemary played a pivotal role in Gordon’s life but she did it within the bounds of tradition without becoming openly defiant. She also tolerated Gordon’s self-pity, childish tantrums and unreasonable behavior. She stood by him even during his darkest days. His sister Julia worked very hard for meager wages. Although her resources were limited she tried to help her selfish brother to the maximum extent possible. Gordon’s only true friend was Philip Ravelston. But such was Gordon’s character that instead of gratitude we see that he was envious of his friend’s possessions - “Ravelston’s inherited wealth, on the other hand, makes Gordon uncomfortable and resentful.” (Brunsdale, 2000, p. 68) Ravelston had the wealth, prestige and status that Gordon desired but was unable to acquire. Here the central character Gordon is not someone we can admire. He is petty minded, vain and insensitive. Moreover he has a streak of selfishness a mile wide running through his character. He is a man to be despised and pitied. Throughout this novel the author keeps on referring to the Aspidistra plant. It was a popular house plant of that period. This plant is being used to symbolize the hopes and the aspirations of the middle class. Like the middle-class this plant is very hardy and can thrive even when it is being neglected. Thus although Gordon tried to kill the Aspidistra plant in his room through neglect it still managed to survive. Gordon’s last act in this novel is to decorate his new house with an Aspidistra plant. Perhaps this is meant to show that Gordon has now joined the middle-class which he so despised at one time. Thus the Aspidistra is not only a mere plant. In this novel it has become a symbol of the middle class. The author George Orwell was not very proud of this book. He did not consider it to be one of his best works. In his own words “it was written simply as an exercise and I oughtn't to have published it, but I was desperate for money" (Meyers, 2010, p.39). Some critics claim that it is a semi-autobiographical work and the author has drawn heavily from his own experiences while depicting Gordon’s character. The class conflict that we see in this novel also reflects the author’s own viewpoint to a certain extent. In the end one might say it is a book which has a lot of dark shades. References Brunsdale, M. (2000), Student companion to George Orwell, New Jersey: Greenwood Press Orwell, G. (2002), Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Gutenberg ebook, available at: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200021.txt (accessed on April 8, 2011) Meyers, J. (2010), Orwell: Life and Art. University of Illinois Press Stewart, A. (2003), George Orwell, Doubleness, and the value of decency, London: Routledge Saunders, L. (2008), The unsung artistry of George Orwell, London: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Read More