process dominated by gruelling work and periods of abject boredom1. He captures an aspect of poverty in detail which is often lost in more generalized histories of the period – namely that for the poor, the future ceases to exist beyond perhaps tomorrow2.
Orwell’s eye for detail is put to effective use as he offers up the horrific experience of working 17 hours per day in Parisian restaurants. His job as a ‘plongeur’ (dishwasher), exists within its own class structure and literally eradicates his capacity for self-preservation. Invisible within the kitchen and hidden from diners, this cohort of humanity is worked so extremely that they are too tired to think critically about their own exploitation3. This is the kind of detail that adds so much to more general histories of the period. Individuals desperate enough for this kind of work find themselves trapped in a cycle of work/sleep without end. The alternative is homelessness and hunger.
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For example, we are introduced to ‘Paddy’ a tramp Orwell meets in England and befriends for “a fortnight”5. We get physical details of the man, particularly his unusual (for a tramp) fastidiousness of dress and personal hygiene. He is described as wearing a tweed jacket and carrying a boot brush and razor which he refuses to sell6. Paddy, we learn, is deeply ashamed of being a tramp (a common theme) but had nonetheless adopted the mannerisms out of seeming necessity. Paddy would cease upon any cigarette butts found lying on the ground and would pull on any vending machine he encountered in the hope something would drop out7. It is these small ethnographic details which give Orwell’s writing such value as