England (as if) through the Eyes of a Foreigner: George Orwell’s Masquerade among the Poor of London

Abstract

Disenchanted with the ‘dirty work of Empire’ and with his own service in the colonial administration, on a visit home Eric Blair decided not to return to Burma, and committed instead to understanding the experiences of ‘the oppressed’ first-hand. This essay offers a brief analysis of Down and Out in Paris and London (1933), the record of his voluntary experiences of destitution among the tramps of London and the dishwashers in Paris, the lesser known book that marks the debut of George Orwell. Why did Orwell choose to record his experiences in reverse order, starting with the funny and exotic Parisian episodes and following with the sobering English ones? How does England emerge out of Orwell’s blend of journalistic reportage, fictionalized autobiography, and scuttling critique of the British class system? And why did he later denounce his experiences among the poor as a masquerade?

Keywords

• autobiography
• critique
• destitution
• mascarade
• Orwell
• reportage