Down and Out in Paris and London

The rich and poor have a common bond, The Lord is the maker of them all” (New American Standard Bible, Proverbs. 22) . You would think this was the the truth but through history and still present today in our society the wealthy subject an obvious difference from the poor. Although there is the lower and middle class we are joined together and considered “impoverished” according to income. The way most people view poverty is different but similarly agree you picture a dirty and worthless person begging for money.This viewpoint can easily be changed once one reads Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell.

Orwell lived a some what easy life but was not rich nor poor. He decided to become a writer in Paris and that is where he writes this book. Orwell assumes the role of a poor man living in Paris. He takes us on a journey as he depicts all the hardships and struggles a person in poverty deals with.

Throughout the book he constantly states his opinion that he feels everyone is morally the same, rich or poor. He feels the only difference between them are the differentBlaylock-Jones 2 methods and tactics used to earn a steady living. This book is very persuasive and makes you believe exactly what Orwell is depicting. Don’t be fooled though. In Down And Out In Paris And London, Orwell has blatantly overlooked the whole concept of the differences between a person of wealth and a person of poverty.

Still present in today’s society the rich are dominantly different than the poor. The rich are always allowed to do what ever they want with little or no consequences and they sell us this vision of success but in the long run it does nothing but benefit them proving their selfishness.The saying money can buy you anything is a true statement in this case. People of wealth are given a “get out of jail free” ticket throughout their whole life.

In Down And Out In Paris And London, Orwell tells us the story of a man named Charlie who is of wealth and pays to rape a young peasant girl. When he arrives to the door step he is approached by a woman, pays her, and she says, “... go down into the cellar there and do what you like.

I shall see nothing, hear nothing, know nothing. You are free, you understand— perfectly free” (Orwell 12). When Charlie enters the cellar he inds the peasant girl and the tragedy happens, “‘She gave a whimper of fright. With a bound I was beside the bed; she tried to elude me, but I seized her by the throat—like this, do you Blaylock-Jones 3 see? —tight! She struggled, she began to cry out for mercy, but I held her fast, forcing back her head and staring down into her face.

.. Without another word I pulled her off the bed and threw her on the floor. And then I fell upon her like a tiger Ah the joy, the incomparable rapture of that time! ” (Orwell 13-14).

He there rapes her and exclaims that that is love. Love in this case is a metaphor towards power.After evaluating this source, Charlie is the representation of the wealthy and the peasant girl is of poverty. Now in this scene we are first shown the woman in charge who tells Charlie he is allowed to do what ever he pleases with NO consequences, since she won’t “hear” or “know” of anything.

That alone is a prime example of how the rich are allowed to do what ever they want without consequences. What makes it even worse is that the woman, who is also poor, is exploiting the poor peasant girl herself. A great example of the poor getting over on the poor. In an article called, Can The Rich And Famous Get Away With Anything?It Certainly Seems That Way written by Greg Morago, it goes into depth about the ways of the rich. “Average Jane and Joes go to jail when they’re caught red-handed; they pay fines when they’ve transgressed; they suffer when they’re publicly humiliated.

Not so the Teflons among us. Their shiny Blaylock-Jones 4 impenetrable surface makes them invincible. Punishment for crimes and misdemeanors never sticks. Bad press slides right off...

Does anyone think Kobe Bryant will be convicted of sexual assault ?... No.

why? Because celebrities —whether they’re movie stars, politicians, usiness giants, heiresses, or actual royalty— are coated in Teflon” (Morago 1) In this article, Morago uses the term “Teflons” as a metaphor towards the rich. Teflon is known as a trademark used on cooking utensils to “prevent sticking. ” In this scenario, the Teflon is the rich and they do not receive punishments that “stick”. This is very similar to Orwell’s depiction of how the rich are allowed to do what ever pleases them. With them having power it changes the whole situation and is supposed to be looked upon as an okay situation.

In comparison to the poor, one tragic event could alter a persons’ whole life.One small slip up could cause them life in prison but I can assure you that would never happen to someone of wealth and power because power rules all. All the different jobs that are in society are more or less useless. All the hardworking jobs we go to everyday does nothing for us, but it provides wealth to the rich. You can basically say the rich do not work at all.

They are all aware of what is going on in society and they could care less because they are selfish. In Down And Out In Paris And London, Orwell states, “A Blaylock-Jones 5 PLONGEUR is a slave, and a wasted slave, doing stupid and largely unnecessary work.He is kept at work, ultimately, because of a vague feeling that he would be dangerous if he had leisure”(Orwell 144). This quote says nothing more but that we are victims and slaves of society. The rich make sure that the poor have no time at all to worry about the meaning to their work.

If people were to sit down and think “What is the purpose of me doing this” , there would be a lot of job openings and a lot of mad rich people. We’re put to work to make their money, not our own. Our money is their money in a sense, since we are left to pay bills with what ever our paycheck leaves us.A verse even from the Bible states “ The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave”(New American Standard Bible, Proverbs. 22). We as working class humans beings are nothing more but slaves to the rich.

The only result we get out of working is stress and tiredness. Mentioned in an article called The Money-Empathy Gap, psychologist Paul Piff conducted an experiment to test the emotional separation from the rich and the poor. “While having money doesn't necessarily make anybody anything , the rich are way more likely to prioritize their own self-interests above the interests of other people”(Piff 1).Piff has also conducted other experiments to lead him to the conclusion that majority of the time wealth dehumanizes a person.

At one point in the story Blaylock-Jones 6 Orwell talks about what a real honest rich man would say about his feelings towards poverty, “‘We know that poverty is unpleasant; in fact, since it is so remote, we rather enjoy harrowing ourselves with the thought of its unpleasantness. But don’t expect us to do anything about it. We are sorry for you lower classes...

We feel that you are much safer as you are.The present state of affairs suits us, and we are not going to take the risk of setting you free, even by an extra hour a day. So, dear brothers, since evidently you must sweat to pay for our trips to Italy, sweat and be damned to you”(Orwell 142). Although a rich person would never admit this , this is their mindset, their selfish mindset. They are completely aware of what is going on around us but they simply do not care. As Piff concluded, they’re more likely to put themselves first.

Many people would argue that my claim is invalid after reading this quote from Orwell, The mass of the rich and the poor are differentiated by their incomes and nothing else, and the average millionaire is only the average dishwasher dressed in a new suit” (Orwell 143). What people don’t understand is that there is more to the suit than you think. A person who is poor and uneducated can not just put on a suit and Blaylock-Jones 7 assume the role of a rich person. There are people who earn their wealth and some who inherit it. The one’s who earn it though worked really hard and faced difficult obstacles an uneducated person might not be able to deal with.

Although anyone has the ability to obtain wealth the more difficult part a poor person might have is maintaining wealth. As seen in Down And Out In Paris And London, Orwell himself deals with the ability to maintain his earnings and goes broke time and time again. Managing your money is a main component to staying rich and that is why a poor person could not easily assume the role of a person of wealth. All around the rich are completely different from you and me. Everything is given to them, while we on the other hand have to work our little hearts out just to get by.

Its as if when one becomes rich, all their worries are gone because society offers them so many resources and short cuts to get out of trouble. Money may be a factor between being rich and poor but clearly a lot more comes with that and that is power. “He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself , Or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty”(New American Standard Bible, Proverbs. 22). By looking at this verse I recommend the rich start making better decisions and start helping out to those less fortunate because if they don't , all that power they’ve acquired will be gone in an instant.