George Orwell's Essay 'Such, Such Were The Joys'

Question: How and why is a social group represented in a particular way? (Power and privilege) Part of Course: Part 3 (literature – texts and contexts; George Orwell)

Thesis: Throughout George Orwell’s essay, “Such, Such were the Joys,” the poor class in society is represented as incompetent and undeserving of joy and success. Instead they earn and deserve beatings physically and mentally. The poor class is represented this way to show how money appears to buy success and happiness through Orwell’s implying the “Joys” that the elite class has.

Main Points:
Being poor can restrict opportunities in education and in life.
Poor children were treated unequally at school and wealth influences some of the important things in life.
Poor people are portrayed as being incompatible, sinful, and clumsy.
The poor are portrayed as deserving to be beaten

They are portrayed as being incompatible, sinful, and clumsy. In Orwell’s case this too was true. He says, “Sin was not necessarily something that you did: it might be something that happened to you…at any rate this was the great, abiding lesson of my boyhood: that I was in a world where it was not possible for me to be good.” Orwell eventually was able to reach his goal by receiving a scholarship through hard work and commitment but it was something that none of his teachers cared about or helped him get. His chances of continuing his education in a superlative place were slim to none. He did not have opportunities that many of his richer classmates had because he didn’t receive the extra special treatment and tutoring that only riches could buy. From trying so hard not to wet the bed to trying to follow the rules and impress his teachers and headmaster all were proven to be virtually impossible. Orwell says after his first payment of beating resulting in a second