I recently read the Orwell novel ‘Down and Out in Paris in London’. It was poignant, beautifully written and relevant. But this is not a book review – I think we can all agree that there are a million better reviews out there, and well – Orwell is a rather established author and does not need me plugging him.
What I will speak about is that I am astonished at how relevant the book still seems to be. It was written in 1933 – yet still resonates with the social apathy towards the homeless today. What I felt was continually iterated in the book – alongside and through the intimate perspective of a ‘tramp’ lifestyle – was the invisibility of the homeless population. Orwell rarely spoke about his interactions with anyone outside the transitory life – because people tend to ignore them and continually find ways to distance themselves from the homeless. This sat with me as I walked to work and someone asked me for change, cycled to the supermarket and a man was playing a harmonica with his hat on the ground, and as I entered the shop and I was asked to buy a ‘Big Issue’. I was conscious of how easily we brush past, walk on and ignore. It also struck me that the only reason I was conscious of such things was because I had recently read a book – and what I hate to admit is that my temporary awareness will soon be dulled back into ambivalence. Or will it?
What does it take for us – for people to stop ignoring these things – is it akin to eating an elephant – one bite at a time – so that we slowly chip away at such frustrating social ills that we finally break free of our selfish cocoon and get out there and DO SOMETHING?
Or rather – do we have temporary and transitory windows of social compassion – like christmas charity or feeding the homeless at thanksgiving – that patch back up our guilty self-centred bubble?
‘Poverty frees them from ordinary standard of behaviour, just as money frees people from work’
