Work record
Down and Out in Paris and London
George OrwellDown and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell (1933)Down and Out in Paris and London is George Orwell's first book, a memoir of poverty drawn from his own experience in 1928-29 and his tramping expeditions in England.1933 · Early 20th Century · Memoir · English
Abstract
Overview. The first book signed with its author's famous pen name recounts months of poverty in two capitals. It mixes autobiography with reporting and argument.
Paris. Robbed of his savings in a shabby lodging, the narrator pawns his clothes, goes hungry, and finally finds work washing dishes in a grand hotel, where heat, dirt and long hours reveal the hidden labor behind luxury.
London. Back in England with a month to wait for a job, he lives as a vagrant, moving each night between workhouse wards and cheap lodgings, and meeting men, among them an Irish companion and a disabled pavement artist, who have fallen out of ordinary life.
Argument. The closing chapters argue that vagrants are ordinary men made idle by law and custom, and they call for practical reform.
For students. The book teaches compassion and attention to unseen workers. Note its coarse language and some period prejudices.
Copyright note. The 1933 memoir stays in US copyright through 2028, so the plongeur chapters and the spike scenes are paraphrased here; students should read them in a library or purchased copy. It was written during the Depression, when unemployment and homelessness were widespread in Britain and France.
Key figures
- The narrator: Orwell's persona
- Boris: Russian émigré waiter
- Paddy: Irish tramp
- Bozo: pavement artist
Summary
Down and Out in Paris and London is George Orwell's first book, a memoir of poverty drawn from his own experience in 1928-29 and his tramping expeditions in England. It was the first book published under the pen name George Orwell. In the first part the narrator, a young Englishman, lives in a cheap hotel in a poor quarter of Paris, the rue du Coq d'Or. When his small savings are stolen, he discovers what poverty really means: the endless calculation of a few francs, the shame of pawning clothes, the boredom, and the hunger that empties the mind. With his Russian friend Boris, a former army officer, he searches for work and finally finds a job as a plongeur, a dishwasher, in the kitchens of a luxury hotel he calls the Hôtel X. There he works seventeen hours a day in heat and filth while the guests upstairs dine in elegance, and he describes the rigid hierarchy of the kitchen, the cooks' pride, and the waiters' contempt for the customers. Later he and Boris work at a new restaurant that never seems ready to open. In the second part the narrator returns to London expecting a job that is delayed for a month, so he lives as a tramp, moving between the 'spikes', the casual wards of workhouses, where tramps may stay one night at a time. He meets Paddy, an Irish tramp, and Bozo, a crippled pavement artist who studies the stars and keeps his self-respect. He describes lodging houses, the Salvation Army shelters, the charity tea and sermon, and the laws that force tramps to keep moving. He ends by arguing that tramps are not monsters but ordinary men made idle by the system, and by promising that he will never again think all tramps drunken scoundrels, nor fail to give a penny to a beggar. The book is vivid and compassionate, though it repeats some of the ethnic prejudices of its time, and its picture of charity work is skeptical. Because US protection runs to the end of 2028, the record paraphrases the Hôtel X kitchens and the London spikes instead of quoting them.
Virtues in this work
Plot or Argument
- Paris: Poverty
The narrator's money is stolen and he learns the routines and shame of poverty.
- Paris: The Hôtel X
He works as a plongeur in a luxury hotel kitchen.
- London: The spikes
Waiting for a job, he lives as a tramp in casual wards and lodging houses.
- Conclusions
He argues for understanding and reform of the treatment of tramps.
Characters
- The narrator, observer
Young Englishman sinking into poverty.
- Boris, friend
Former Russian officer and waiter.
- Paddy, tramp
Irish companion on the road.
- Bozo, pavement artist
Disabled street artist with a free spirit.
Lessons
The dignity of the poor
Orwell shows that the poor are not different from anyone else.
- How does the narrator's view of tramps change?
- How does James 2:1-6 apply?
Hidden labor
Diners never see the kitchens that serve them.
- What does the hotel kitchen reveal?
- Who serves us unseen today?
Charity
Orwell is skeptical of charity that humiliates.
- How do tramps feel about charity sermons?
- What makes charity respectful?
Context
Orwell lived in Paris in 1928-29, working as a dishwasher, and tramped in England in the early 1930s to learn about poverty firsthand.
Composition
Published by Victor Gollancz in January 1933 under the pen name George Orwell, chosen partly to spare his family embarrassment.
Reception
Well reviewed; established Orwell as a writer about poverty and class.
Comparisons
- Politics and the English Language
Orwell's essay on plain language, a style he practises here.
- The Road to Wigan Pier
Orwell's later report on poverty in northern England.
- Oliver Twist
Dickens's picture of the workhouse and the London poor.
Quotes
For Students
A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.
Reading Guide
Watch for
- How poverty affects the narrator's mind.
- The hierarchy of the hotel kitchen.
- The character of Bozo.
- Orwell's conclusions about tramps.
Key terms and names
- Plongeur
- A dishwasher in a French kitchen.
- Spike
- Slang for a workhouse casual ward.
- Casual ward
- One-night shelter in a workhouse.
- Pen name
- Name used by an author instead of his own.
Seminar Questions
- Comprehension Why does the narrator become poor?
- Comprehension What is a spike, and how does it work?
- Interpretation What does Orwell think of luxury hotels?
- Interpretation How does Bozo keep his dignity?
- Interpretation What reforms does Orwell suggest?
- Big Question What do we owe the poor?
Faith Connections
- James 2:1-6 (Scripture)
Do not despise the poor man; Orwell exposes contempt for the poor.
- Matthew 25:35 (Scripture)
I was a stranger, and ye took me in; the duty of hospitality to those without homes.
Logic and Rhetoric
Central argument: Poverty degrades not because the poor are worse people but because society organizes their idleness and shame.
Rhetorical device: first-person reportage. Orwell writes as an eyewitness, with concrete detail.
Debate: Resolved: that charity should never be humiliating.
Writing Prompts
Essay: Explain how Orwell's experiences changed his view of poverty.
Comparison with Oliver Twist: Compare Orwell's and Dickens's pictures of the English poor.
Medical Lens
Hunger, malnutrition, alcoholism and the sanitation of workhouses are described.
- Paris chapters
The effects of hunger on mind and body.
Creative Prompts
- Essay
How does Orwell change readers' views of tramps?
- Fiction
Write a day in the life of a plongeur.
- Classroom
Research how a city today helps homeless people.
Further Reading
- Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
Orwell's final novel.
Verification notes
COPYRIGHT: First published 1933; still under US copyright (95 years from publication, until the end of 2028). Abstract and study guide only; no full text and no quotations.
No verification flags recorded.