Down and Out in Paris and London:

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Down and Out in Paris and London Orwell,
Undrinkable Tea, and the Class System
Eric Schumacher, HIS 3970
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Hey there, history
buffs! My name is Eric Arthur Blair,
but you may know me better as George
Orwell, the political author that championed the
lower class and abhorred totalitarian forms of
government. Orwell is just my pen name. You know,
I wrote plenty of books and essays before I died
of tuberculosis in 1950. 1984 and Animal Farm
were my most widely read and acclaimed. But, Down
and Out in Paris and London was my first book
length release. It was released in 1933. Its
about the years I spent living in extreme poverty
in Paris and London and Im awful proud of it,
because I believe it gives the reader some
insight into what life what like for the
downtrodden in urban Britain during the Great
Depression. Its that outdated British class
system and peoples pre-conceived notions
about members of different classes that was
acausin the trouble! Aw, shucks.
There I go aramblin again.
I hope you enjoy this brief PowerPoint
about my book as much
I did!
NOTE I doubt George Orwell actually spoke like
an old prospector.
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Paris
Map of Paris, France during WW I,
http//swirlygirl.typepad.com/photos
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The Rue Du Coq dOr

• The Paris slum where Orwell lived as he worked
  as a plongeur and
• other jobs while he lived in Paris, where DOPL
  begins.
• Ethnically diverse neighborhood with a wide
  variety of people.
• Where Orwell begins to go days at a time without
  eating.
• Began as an object lesson in poverty, and then
  the background of my
• Own experiences George Orwell (DOPL, chapter
  1, page 5).
• Orwell changed from a simple observer to becoming
  part of the
• impoverished lifestyle, which would begin his
  journey back to
• England and through the streets of London.

Present day Rue Du Coq dOr http//www.terresdecri
vains.com/IMG/jpg/orwell.jpg
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Hotel X

• Orwell worked as a plongeur and noticed serious
  distinctions between the
• class of people who eat at the restaurant and
  those who worked there.
• The waiters could fake their class. Properly
  dressed and mannered, they
• could put on an illusion of elegance for the
  customer.
• Where Orwell notes the connections between race,
  ethnicity, and class.
• In France a Frenchman is higher than an
  Englishmen, but an
• Englishmen seems higher than a Russian or an
  American
• Where Orwell learned about the inescapability of
  the class system
• Orwell was unable to look for another job while
  working as a
• plongeur because his job absorbed all of his
  time and energy,
• even though he was barely making enough money
  to get by.
• It is hard to improve ones situation with no
  morale and
• without a decent meal.

http//www.dustylens.com/Vulture-Dishes.jpg
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London
Booths Poverty Map of London (1898-1899),
http//mubs.mdx.ac.uk
Pink - Fairly comfortable, Good ordinary
earnings Red - Middle class, Well-to-do Yellow -
Upper-middle and Upper class, Wealthy
Black - Lowest class Vicious, semi-criminal
Dark Blue - Very poor, casual, Chronic
want Light Blue - Poor ,18s to 21s a week for a
moderate family
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The Spike

• Spike is slang for casual ward. It usually
  has poor beds, food, and tea, but
• it is a place to stay. Provided poor sleep
  because of the noise and crowds.
• Group home where people with no money may stay
  the night but are locked in
• until morning. They were designed to keep the
  poor off the streets at night.
• Here Orwell learns the class distinctions even
  among the tramps, based on
• what kind of tramp each person was.
• Skreevers are higher than moochers, etc.
• Orwell begins to think these institutions are
  part of the reason for the tramps
• vagrancy. They force all the tramps to migrate
  and spend more time walking to
• the next spike than looking for work. Orwells
  disdain for authority comes
• through.

Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward by
Luke Fildes (1874) Not in Orwells time, but the
right-hand portion made It on our edition of
Hard Times, so I had to include
it. http//www.jim3dlong.com
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The Tramps

• Came from all over the United Kingdom and had
  varied occupations before
• tramping. Orwell noted that few women were
  tramps.
• Orwell also notes the tramps demoralized,
  humiliated, and unhealthy state
• are really all that separates them from normal
  society.

• A simple change of clothes made Orwell feel
  more
• at home with them. He was afraid of being
• discovered as higher class because of his
  accent.
• He wasnt.
• Tramps were often regarded as criminals.
• Church groups frequented some of the lodging
• houses for the poor. Other organizations traded
• free tea and bread in exchange for
• listening to a church service.
• Orwells disdain for religion
• comes through.

http//www.old-picture.com
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The Talk
A gagger--beggar or street performer of any
kind.. A moocher--one who begs outright,
without pretence of doing a trade. A
nobbier--one who collects pennies for a beggar.
A chanter--a street singer. A clodhopper --a
street dancer. A mugfaker--a street
photographer. A glimmer--one who watches vacant
motor-cars. A gee (or jee--it is pronounced
jee)-- the accomplice of a cheapjack, who
stimulates trade by pretending to buy something.
A split--a detective. A flattie--a policeman.
A dideki--a gypsy. A toby--a tramp. A
drop--money given to a beggar Fuhkum--lavender or
other perfume sold in envelopes. A boozer--a
public-house. A slang--a hawker's licence. A
kip--a place to sleep in, or a night's
lodging. Smoke-- London. A judy--a woman. The
spike--the casual ward.
from DOPL Chap 32, page
186, Penguin Books, 2003.
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Thanks for stoppin by! If you want to
read more of my work, pay a neighborly visit
to www.george-orwell.org. You can find my
complete works there and read them all free of
charge, now thats a socialist idea!
Yall have a good day, ya hear?