Down And Out In Paris Analysis

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Down and Out in Paris and London is the first complete piece of writing published by English author George Orwell, in 1933. The book deals with Orwell’s detailed descriptions of his experiences living in poverty stricken areas in large cosmopolitan cities like London and Paris. In this essay I shall discuss how the themes of poverty, violence and cultural diversity are conveyed from a small passage taken from the memoir. The first paragraph of the passage introduces the reader with a scenery of confusion and unstableness, with many key words referencing to the theme of poverty. This can be observed from the following sentences, “A succession of furious, chocking yells from the street” and “Her bare feet were stuck in sabots”. Words like “chocking” and “yelling” communicate a sense of instability and disease, which all correlate perfectly with the theme of poverty. The sense of poverty continuous through-out the paragraphs with various gloomy descriptions of the surroundings. For…show more content…
This could show how powerless the people are faced with higher order of authority, as the shouting and disorder terminated at once. This could also convey a sense of repression towards the lower class of the population, as little resistance is met. Or this can just as easily be understood as the people not wanting to stir up any more problems and that the squadron was able to successfully contain the situation. Orwell goes on to emphasise the problem also due to the accessibility of cheap alcohol, which leads to having a third of the male population to be drunk. “Fighting over woman...” and “Fighting with chairs and occasional revolvers” where just some of the implications which came with these situations, but the most evident point the was made by Orwell concerning the safety of the area is, “At night policemen would only come through the street two together”. Showing just to what extent the neighbourhood was
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