la_karina1818 's review for:

The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell

4.5

emotional reflective medium-paced

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A bleak, kind of depressing look into the daily lives and society of working class society in Northern England in the mid 1930s. Life of the working class has been affected by multiple factors such as the continuous increase in industrialism, even still the effects of WW1 of some of the population and the impending danger of WW2. Even though mid to late 1930s for the working class is a bleak and uncertain time, there are many new political ideas and societal changes such as the conflicts between Socialism and Conservatism, with Conservatism still being the majority of the population's political stance no matter the person's class. Orwell's purpose to write this is not only to bring to light the poor living conditions of the majority of the working class (even though it is highlighted by various media to be a time of prosperity and revival) but to also highlight every person's importance and contribution to building the new Britain. Written in 1936, it was also purposefully done to bring to the surface an important message (which some people didn't even acknowledge), that the working classes are also people just like everyone else and may even be better than the higher or middle classes, due to being faced with the harshness of life and recognizing what's truly important in life: the power of family and the community. The second part of the book covers the political spheres of Britain during this time, covering both the negatives of Socialism and Conservatism, with Orwell making it clear that he doesn't defend or stand against any political ideology but highlighting how different individuals behave contrary to their own political ideas and ways to behave in society. For readers in the 1930s, Orwell immensely brought to the surfaces the truths of the political and class injustices that many believed, not just the working class but also those of the higher classes like Orwell himself as he recognized the injustices of British imperalism in Burma (where he grew up and lived in his earlier years). His writing of course flows eloquently, which made everything flow very fluently. For me most of this is not new information, but it is important to ascertain that this book for a 1930s readers as well as young people today (that are getting into learning about history and politics at the time), is a very useful resource for learning and/or getting a deeper insider's perspectives on the lives of the working class and the political sphere of the Britain in the 1930s.