A Book Review: George Orwell’s “The Road to Wigan Pier”

In “The Road to Wigan Pier,” the author George Orwell magnificently personalizes the atrocities that the English majority suffered during the Industrial Revolution. Throughout this book, however, it is important to keep in mind that Orwell was sent to research the unemployed populous of northern England by a socialist book club. He furthered this venture by interviewing the employed as well, and did all of his research by actually sharing in these experiences, not merely being a sideliner. By having interviewed both the employed and unemployed, Orwell came to discover why socialism would not work for what he considered to be “normal people,” but was rather a solution to those which needed it to survive.

Through the use of interviews and personal experiences, Orwell exceptionally brings to light the issues faced by the unemployed in northern England during the Industrial Revolution. Orwell’s research did not end where the unemployed ended and the employed began, rather it continued, briefly, into the more comfortable homes of the healthier, happier classes as well. Throughout his book,

Moving away from the romanticized styles in writing, Orwell’s book remains factual as compared to theoretical. The content of “The Road to Wigan Pier” is detailed personal experiences of the people Orwell encountered, not hypothetical ideas about them. His book is filled with excerpts from personal experiences of coal miners, to pay charts, to unemployment benefits from government record and so on. He also brings the reader back into the homes of the unemployed whom he interviewed by providing weekly budgets from them to show how they planned to spend any money they made. The second part of his book becomes more theoretical in nature as Orwell expresses his beliefs about socialism. His belief is that both communism and socialism are no longer movements of the lower class; rather they are lead by the bourgeoisie, the middle class. Orwell writes of the misunderstanding of the working class:

This time in which Orwell lived surely influenced not only the topics for his books, but his writing styles as well. In comparison to pre-industrialization era, authors of Orwell’s time are remarkably less flowers and romantic in their writing styles and topics, and understandably so.

Orwell’s point of view in this book is obviously sides to that of the unemployed. It would be absurd not to be. Orwell’s focus was exactly that; to interview and experience the lives of those suffering from unemployment from Industrialization in northern England. Regardless, Orwell conducts his business and writes to his audience deliberately showing fact for fact what he found, how he feels about it, and why things were in such shape. It does not take long into the reading to realize that Orwell is attempting to personalize the sobering experiences a

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