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Down and Out in Paris and London is a eulogy to poverty. Based on Orwell's experience, the book explores the theme from different viewpoints. Orwell resigned from the Imperial police to become a writer. It is this decision that led him to lead the life he describes in Down and Out in Paris and London. He lives the life of a destitute in Paris, working in and out as a dishwasher to earn his keep. In London, he lives the life of a vagrant. His lived-in experience in poverty enabled him to make a good account of poverty and its implications.

The main purpose of writing the book was to demolish the misconception of poverty and the poor. Society held the view that poverty was somehow a fault of the people. Either they were lazy or they lacked the ability to work themselves up. At no point did they consider that perhaps there were things that don't meet the eye. Orwell's book is an effort to enlighten what the eyes don't see. Orwell shows how even the educated people struggle to survive, laying their hands in all sorts of jobs just to make their ends. It is not the absence of will but the opportunity. Also, unforeseen circumstances like illness, accidents, theft, or sheer bad luck can reduce one to poverty. Poverty is not always the fault of the poor. Orwell then demonstrates how badly the poor are generally treated. The shabby clothes, the smell, the unwashed countenance, and the starved look are enough for the public to recoil from them in disgust. This works negatively in the poor's psyche as they withdraw more and more into themselves, demoralising them.

Poverty can, however, work contrarily to what is described above. George Orwell shows how poverty can work as inspiration and motivation. Rather than making poverty one's prison, he can turn his confinement into something that motivates and inspires him so he can break the prison door and step up to the world. Poverty is also a freedom, Orwell says; it helps one to act differently. From an artistic point of view, this freedom is valuable, as we can see from Orwell's life.

Having said that, I don't think the book is a memoir. It is more of what is now called an autobiografiction, partly autobiography and partly fiction. I can't help but think that the Paris and London living was his own choosing just to find the material for his writing. The first part of the book describes his life in Paris and the second, London. I enjoyed the first part more. It had more vibrant characters and a colourful story. The second part was monotonous. The story and the characters were dull and insipid. Down and Out in Paris and London is an important book in George Orwell's canon, although it may not be his best.

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