Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell - Poverty in the 20th and 21st Century - Book Report/Review Example

No: Poverty in the 20th and 21st century Introduction Poverty is the of scarce or adverselylimited resources in the society. Societies in the 21st century are divided into three groups. The first and most influential group is the rich social class (Smiley 4). This comprises people from wealthy backgrounds who live a high standard life. The second group is the middle social class, which consists of people who can afford and live a basic life. The third group is the poor social class, which comprises people who struggle to afford and live the basic lifestyle. Poverty as an issue is significant to be investigated as many other issues are connected to this problem and the country’s overall standing can be judged by the number of poor people residing in its cities. “Down and Out in Paris and London” presents a series of hardships, poverty experiences and the outcomes of living as an immigrant far away from home. This document presents a comparison between poverty in the 20th century depicted by George Orwell in “Down and Out in Paris and London.” The work can be stated as semiautobiographical as the writer uses reality with fiction to highlight issues of poverty that he and other people face. He has to live as an impoverished person in Paris and London. Poverty in America is portrayed by economic inflation created in the transition from the period after the American Revolution, which was inspired by rebuilding strategies as the nation had undergone through a massive loss of lives and property worth billions of dollars. In the semiautobiographical narrative, Orwell informs about poverty in connection with unemployment, immigration, accommodation for homeless people and high crime rate in the 20th century and the issue of poverty in the US in the 21st century also sheds light on the same issues. This document looks at the differences and similarities depicted in the transition with a comparison to Orwell’s concept of poverty as written in “Down and Out in Paris and London.” Scopes of poverty in Orwell’s “Down and Out in Paris and London.” Most immigrants live in poverty due to low wages and long working timing. Unfair business owners tend to hire immigrants in order to attain cheap labor as per their business strategies. The narrator tells the challenges that befall foreigners when they are in search for employment in a foreign land. He acquired his first job as a dishwasher in one of the hotels in Paris where employees who were mostly foreigners worked for twelve hours each day of the week with little pay. This made him live in a small and inveterately dirty room as there were no maids to clean the room since they were extremely cheap. The narrator’s place of residence depicted poverty in the immigrant society as most of his neighbors were foreigners from different countries in Europe with few coming from other continents around the world. The narrator describes the condition of the room in which, he lived while in Paris saying, “The walls were as thin as matchwood, and to hide the cracks they had been covered with layer after layer of pink paper, which had come loose and housed innumerable bugs” (Orwell 6). The statement portrays the state of poverty among the immigrant society living in Paris in the 20th century as the story is set in this era. He also lived near a Russian family comprising a mother and her son who worked for sixteen hours in a day darning socks, which the woman sold twenty-five centimes a pair (Orwell 7). Cause of poverty The set up in George Orwell’s “Down and Out in Paris and London,” can be compared to the current poverty state in the US. Poverty in the US is a result of the economic constrains that have led to high number of unemployed graduates in the country. In George Orwell’s “Down and Out in Paris and London,” the immigrant society living in Paris slum has to face unemployment problems that have subjected them to a harsh form of lifestyle in the slums. The poor society in US currently lives in places, which are referred to as ghettos. The ghettos are made of squeezed and cheap houses. This notion affirms that poverty in both the 20th and 21st century is rooted to the drastic growing population in both America and Europe. The growing population in these regions led to high unemployment rates thus resulted in the rise of poverty in most societies. Circumstances of poverty People living in poor societies often struggle to meet their daily needs. They tend to focus on achieving the basic needs in life and living according to their economic status. In this case, they live in unpleasant environments so as to be able to budget their lifestyle according to their low incomes. In George Orwell’s “Down and Out in Paris and London,” the narrator says that the environment around was noisy and dangerous during the night as the rate of crime was high. This notion is presented in a statement where he says, “The places was It was a very narrow street--a ravine of tall, leprous houses, lurching towards one another in queer attitudes, as though they had all been frozen in the act of collapse” (Orwell 5). Power social classes are affected by high crime rates in their environments. Poor societies in the US are affiliated with high crime rates and unpleasant living status such as living in old houses, which are not renovated houses. Ghetto societies have lack of hygiene issues as houses are squeezed and the population is intensively high. Poverty has led to the breaking of relationship and marriages in the US. This aspect is also portrayed in George Orwell’s “Down and Out in Paris and London,” when the narrator talks of a neighbor who beats his wife and goes to jail. All this happened after the man lost his job, which enabled him to earn slightly high income. Resolutions to poverty The US government has devised a program that loans individuals or groups funds in order to start businesses that create self-employments and job opportunities for other people. This was an approach used by the society in the 20th century for survival in a low economic structure (DeNavas-Walt and Proctor 9). This aspect is shown in George Orwell’s “Down and Out in Paris and London,” when he gives an example of a Russian family comprising a mother and her son who worked for sixteen hours in a day darning socks, which the woman sold twenty-five centimes a pair (Orwell 7). The American government supports the notion of self-employment with the aim of reducing poverty. The wage bill has also helped in the reduction of poverty in the US as it introduced the concept of minimum wage to all employees in the country. This meant that employers may not suppress their employees through low wages (DeNavas-Walt and Proctor 15). The 20th and 21st centuries have a slight difference in reflect to poverty issues. Poverty in the 20th century was mainly influenced by low industrial development that led to minimal job opportunities. Poverty in the 21st century is mainly influenced by the rise in technology that has replaced human labor (Smiley 57). In George Orwell’s “Down and Out in Paris and London,” the narrator worked as a dish washer in a big hotel in Paris where he provided cheap labor. Currently, these services have been replaced by the use of dish washers. This aspect has led to unemployment of my graduates in the US employers tend to prefer machinery labor, which is cheap and efficient. Conclusion “Down and Out in Paris and London” by George Orwell presents a case study of experiences of people living in poor social classes. It depicts the issues of poverty in the 20th century. Unemployment is affirmed by researches as the main cause of poverty in the US and many other parts in the world. The issues highlighted by Orwell, which are prevalent in 21st century US are poverty, unemployment, immigration, low wages, economic constraints and high crime rate. All of these issues are interconnected. Poverty is significant because it degrades the survival of a person. Orwell in his narrative informs about his living an impoverished life in Paris and London and this paper connects the issues prevalent in today’s society with the issues highlighted by Orwell in “Down and Out in Paris and London” in the 20th century. US has introduced some measures to control poverty such as wage bill to control low wages and self-employment. Overall, George Orwell narrates about the poverty issues experienced in the 20th century, which can be reflected in the current world. Works Cited DeNavas-Walt, Carmen and Proctor, Bernadette D. Income and Poverty in the United States: 2013. New York: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU. Published: September 2014. 2014. Print. http://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2014/demo/p60-249.pdf Orwell, George. Down and Out in Paris and London. New York: Lulu.com. 2012. Print Smiley, Tavis. The Rich and the Rest of Us. California: Hay House, Inc, 2012. 2012. Print Read More