Down and Out in Paris and London

If you have ever read 1984 or Animal Farm, you  know that George Orwell is an excellent writer. He completely immerses his reader into the setting and the story he tries to convey. This third book, Down and Out in Paris and London, is written very much the same. Though the first two books were quite dark reads, Down and Out, despite what some may think, has more of positive outlook on life.

Down and Out is about an English language teacher, who is first in Paris, finding himself without a job. With the help of his friend, Boris, the two currently “down and out,” scavenge Paris for a job while trying to keep their money supply from dropping, while also trying to keep up the appearance that they aren’t struggling. Soon they find a job, two actually, and all goes well for a while. Then our main character returns to England on prospects of getting his job back, when it turns out he has to wait another month before his employers come back. He is “hard up” again and finds the helping hand of Paddy. Paddy helps the protagonist by showing the “do’s and don’ts” of English poverty. After a month, his employers do come back and even though he is pleased to have his job back, he expresses what he never realized about poverty and those engulfed by it. 

The moral of Orwell's story is not the fact that poverty is the end, because it is not. The moral of the story is that even at the lowest point in life, there are still people out there who will lend a helping. Throughout the book, the protagonist is helped with other people of common interest to find a steady job, or to find a place to live. The homeless and the unemployed are not some inhuman monsters. All they are are people who have had a bit of bad luck.

This could be a good movie that would serve the purpose of subtly influencing people to be kinder to the beggar on the street, or to donate a little more money to charities. Or, they could model a documentary about this novel that instead of subtly stating what people should do would directly show how good deeds greatly influence the lives of others. If it its a movie already, I'm not surprised, but if not, someone should definitely make it one.