What Has Poverty Done to People?

Anh Nguyen

Dr. O’Reilly

English 20803

September 22, 2014

What has poverty done to people?

Mahatma Gandhi says: “There are people in the world so hungry, that god cannot appear to them except in the form of bread”. In fact, even though the first thing that comes across our mind about poverty is how detrimental and destructive it is to people, barely do people know and understand the chronic suffering it can bring. The novel Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell lets the readers clearly imagine the tremendous effects of poverty not only on people but also on the author himself. The novel is one of George Orwell’s first published works. It depicts the author’s ups and downs in Paris and London when the narrator decided to first-hand experience the life of slums in the greatest of European capitals such as Paris and London so as to portray and comment on the lives of the poor and to some extent, the rich. For this purpose, the author captures the major influences that poverty exerts on people in the slums; that is, poverty brings sickness and unhealthiness to people, leads to people turning to crimes and finally causes dishonesty among them.

        First of all, people suffering from poverty mostly are physically ill. Since both the living and working conditions around them are extremely gruesome, people can barely afford basic entities such as water and food and even personal hygiene. Poverty, more than often, does not bring one issue alone. In fact, one problem goes hand in hand with others. Specifically, lack of personal hygiene practices makes it possible for disease to spread out. Moreover, hunger and thirst lead to malnourishment, hence making human more susceptible to disease and infection. Therefore, poverty brings sickness and unhealthiness to people.

Down and out in Paris and London vividly depicts such deleterious effect of poverty on people. In chapter five, the narrator describes Boris’ bedroom as in poor condition which leads to Boris’s chest “spotted with insect bites” (Orwell 30) inasmuch as bugs are everywhere in his room. Furthermore, poverty can make a healthy man in very bad shape. Boris used to be an officer in the Russian army and was once a powerful and handsome man. However, Boris’s physical condition deteriorates overtime, as he lives in a dreadful and poor condition. He is fat and has such a backache that he cannot walk without a cane. As a result, poverty can bring a tremendous effect on people that are even physically strong and in good shape. After all, the first things that poverty brings to people in the novel are illness and the state of unhealthiness.

        Second of all, poverty makes people allude to crimes and violate the law. Needless to say, when people are at the low points of their lives, they try to survive poverty and fight back the society at any cost, even if this can involve illegal maneuvers and crimes. As far as Vollmann, the author of “Poor People” published in 2008, is concerned, poverty makes individuals struggle in hopelessness. It forces the poor to accept their dreadful fate in “the hopelessness and brutality of poverty” (Vollmann 2008). In a way, committing a crime is no longer a choice. In fact, under such circumstances, people consider it as the way to stand up against society and survive poverty.

As in chapter five of the novel, Boris has considered robbing a rich American on the street. Also, even the narrator himself considers breaking the law. Furthermore, in chapter eight of the novel, Boris hears on the grapevine that there may be a job from a Russian secret society that requires English writing skill for the author. To Boris’s understanding, it is highly likely that this Russian secret society is actually a Communist party. At that time, according to the unnamed narrator, Paris police are very harsh on Communism; therefore, people usually do not wish to associate with it. Nonetheless, given that there will be a great financial gain for both him and Boris, they decide to take the risk anyway. In the end, this turns out to be Russian immigrants’ scam to make money. As readers can see, it seems that there is no legitimate work in Paris for poor people at all. As long as breaking the law and alluding to crimes can help people get away with poverty, people will do them at all cost. In this sense, the real criminal here is poverty per se; its victims are, thus, the people. Therefore, poverty solely contributes to people alluding to crimes and breaking the law.

Last of all, it is poverty that makes people become more dishonest and deceitful towards each other. Needless to say, poverty itself is brutal and ugly. To people, every day is a battlefield. Seemingly, it takes away basic goods such as food, clothes, home and even comfort and cleanliness from people. Given this situation, what should people do? According to “Orwell’s Poor and Ours” from the American Prospect, Lieberman argues that as people are concerned with such problems, their mind only focuses on how to stay alive and to make ends meet for every single day. To manage to combat poverty requires people’s resourcefulness and shrewdness. In other words, this involves deceiving and cheating other people to make a living. As a result, from time to time, people become more dishonest and deceitful towards others. They lie and cheat to survive.