The Road American Pier By George Orwell Analysis

George Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier is a fascinating and complex work divided into two parts. The first part of the publication delves into the harsh realities of life in England’s industrial north, delivering a detailed and compelling investigation into what it meant to be working class in Depression-era England. The second section of the book is more personal, an introspective reflection on Orwell’s own class identity, biases, and the concept of Socialism. While personally an advocate for Socialism, Orwell is nevertheless unafraid to call out the movement for what he perceives as its failings. Overall, Orwell’s message is three-pronged and abundantly clear: The trappings of capitalist greed have created prejudice and appalling conditions for the working poor in Britain, Socialism is the best remedy for these conditions, and Socialism is at risk of losing to Fascism due to its perception in British society.

He uses this section to share a series of chapters based on his firsthand experiences in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the West Midlands, all heavy industrialized areas of northern Britain. Sent by the socialist Left Book Club to look into the mass unemployment facing the U.K. in the 1930s, Orwell spends time bouncing around from one community to the next, living as a “tramp” and staying primarily in lodging houses around the region (5). He reports on the living conditions of working class families such as the Brookers, who ran a lodging house and were considered decently well-off by working class standards (14). He then delves into various topics such as the coal industry, housing shortages, unemployment, and malnutrition and how they contribute to the desperate situation of the working