The Road to Wigan Pier facts for kids
Left Book Club supplementary volume, with 32 pages of plates, left, and first Left Book Club edition, right
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| Author | George Orwell |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Autobiography |
| Publisher | Victor Gollancz (London) |
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Publication date
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8 March 1937 as a Left Book Club selection and a cloth-bound trade edition (Left Book Club supplementary volume, Part I, with 32 pages of plates, published May 1937) |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| ISBN | 978-0-141-18529-3 |
| Preceded by | Keep the Aspidistra Flying |
| Followed by | Homage to Catalonia |
The Road to Wigan Pier is a famous book by the English writer George Orwell. It was first published in 1937. The first part of the book describes his journey to the industrial north of England. He wanted to see and report on the difficult living conditions of working-class people before World War II.
The second part of the book is a long essay. In it, Orwell writes about his own middle-class background. He also shares how his political ideas developed. He questions how people in Britain thought about socialism. Orwell clearly states that he supports socialism. However, he also explains why many people who would benefit from socialism might actually be against it.
His publisher, Victor Gollancz, first wanted to publish only the first part of the book. This was because the second part was a bit controversial. But Orwell insisted on keeping both parts together. Gollancz then wrote an introduction to the book. He wanted to explain some of Orwell's ideas. The book helps readers understand the tough times during the Great Depression in the United Kingdom. Orwell wanted to show middle-class people what life was really like for the poor. He did this by experiencing it himself.
Contents
Exploring the Background of the Book
Orwell finished writing another book, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, in early 1936. Soon after, his publisher, Victor Gollancz, asked him to start a new project. Gollancz wanted him to write about unemployment and social conditions. These were big problems in the northern parts of England at the time.
From January to March 1936, Orwell lived in places like Wigan, Barnsley, and Sheffield. He was researching for his new book. Gollancz was a successful publisher and also cared deeply about social fairness. He believed that if people knew about poverty, they would want to end it. He thought they would change the government and the economic system.
Gollancz knew that a book full of just facts and numbers might not reach many people. He wanted something more engaging. Some people believe Orwell received money to help with his trip. However, more recent biographers think he might have only received a small amount for his travel costs.
On April 1, 1936, Orwell rented a small house in Wallington, Hertfordshire. This is where he wrote The Road to Wigan Pier. He also ran a small village shop from his home to earn extra money.
Orwell started his journey on the last day of January 1936. He had left his job and his flat in London. He didn't have a strict plan. He got names of people who could help him in the north. He also connected with the National Unemployed Workers' Movement. One contact, Jack Hilton, suggested he visit Wigan. Hilton said, "there are the colliers and they’re good stuff."
For the next two months, Orwell traveled from Birmingham to Manchester and then to Leeds. He kept a diary of his experiences. This diary became the basis for the first part of his book. He spent three weeks in Wigan, which was his longest stop. March was spent in Yorkshire. He finished a rough draft by October and sent the final version in December.
Gollancz published the book through the Left Book Club. This helped the book reach many more readers than Orwell's previous works. However, Gollancz was worried the second half of the book might upset some readers. So, he added a special introduction to the book. The first edition also included 32 photos. These showed Welsh coal miners and slums in London. Orwell did not choose these pictures himself.
How the Book is Organized
The book has two main parts.
- Part One
In the first part, George Orwell describes working-class life. He focuses on the industrial areas of the West Midlands, Yorkshire, and Lancashire. He lived among the people there. This allowed him to write very detailed and clear descriptions.
- Chapter One talks about the Brooker family. They were a bit wealthier than some. They ran a shop and a cheap lodging house. Orwell describes the older people living there and their conditions.
- Chapter Two describes the lives of miners and the conditions inside a coal mine. Orwell went down into a mine to see how coal was dug up. He explains how the coal is moved. The working conditions were very tough. This part of the book is often quoted.
- Chapter Three looks at the daily life of the average miner. It discusses their hygiene and money situations. Orwell explains why most miners did not earn as much as people thought.
- Chapter Four describes the housing problems in the industrial north. There weren't enough homes. This meant people often had to accept very poor housing.
- Chapter Five explores unemployment. Orwell explains that the official unemployment numbers at the time were misleading.
- Chapter Six talks about the food of the average miner. Even if they had enough money for food, many families chose tasty but unhealthy options. This was to make their dull lives better. This often led to malnutrition.
- Chapter Seven describes how ugly the industrial towns in northern England looked.
- Part Two
This part is different from the first. It's not just a report. Here, Orwell discusses how socialism could improve living conditions. This section caused some debate.
Orwell asks some simple questions:
- Are the terrible conditions in Part One acceptable? (No)
- Can socialism, if used worldwide, make these conditions better? (Yes)
- So, why isn't everyone a socialist?
The rest of this part tries to answer the last question. Orwell says that most people who argue against socialism don't do it for selfish reasons. They also don't think it wouldn't work. Instead, they have more complex emotional reasons. Orwell believes most socialists don't understand these reasons. He points out five main issues:
- Class prejudice: This is a real and strong feeling. Middle-class socialists don't help by pretending it doesn't exist. By praising manual workers, they can push away many people who are working-class economically but feel middle-class culturally.
- Machine worship: Orwell felt many socialists were too focused on machines. He himself was careful about new technology. He thought it could make people soft and weak. He pointed out that most fictional socialist utopias (perfect societies) seemed very boring. He criticized writers like H. G. Wells for this.
- Crankiness: Some socialists were seen as odd or strange.
- Difficult language: People who used complicated words and got too excited about complex ideas were unlikely to get popular support.
- Not focusing on basics: Socialism should be about fairness and decency for everyone. It should not be about strict political rules or deep philosophical ideas.
Orwell acts like a devil's advocate here. He clearly states he supports socialism. But he feels it's important to show why many people who would benefit from it might oppose it.
Orwell's publisher, Victor Gollancz, was worried about how these parts would be understood. He thought members of the Left Book Club might be offended. So, he added a foreword to the book. In it, he shared some concerns about Orwell's ideas in Part Two. For example, he suggested Orwell might have exaggerated how much the English middle classes looked down on the working class.
Gollancz also wondered why Orwell dismissed movements like pacifism or feminism. He thought Orwell relied too much on an emotional idea of socialism. Gollancz claimed Orwell "does not once define what he means by Socialism" in the book. This foreword is not in all modern editions of the book. Later, Gollancz published only Part One of the book, against Orwell's wishes. He also refused to publish Orwell's next book, Homage to Catalonia.
What Does "Wigan Pier" Mean?
Orwell was asked about Wigan Pier in a radio show in 1943. He said, "Well, I am afraid I must tell you that Wigan Pier doesn't exist. I made a journey specially to see it in 1936 and I couldn't find it." He added that it did exist once. It was probably a wooden jetty (a small pier) where coal wagons were unloaded into boats on a canal. This original wooden pier was likely taken down in 1929.
Even though a pier usually means a structure going out into the sea, in Britain, it can also make people think of seaside holidays. Orwell explained the name Wigan Pier further in his radio interview. He said Wigan is in the middle of mining areas. The landscape is full of slag-heaps (piles of waste from mining). Wigan was often used as an example of how ugly industrial areas could be.
He said there used to be a broken-down wooden jetty on one of the muddy canals near the town. As a joke, some people called it Wigan Pier. The joke became popular locally. Then, music-hall comedians started using it. They are the ones who kept the name Wigan Pier famous as a funny saying. Today, Wigan Pier is the name for the area around the canal. It is at the bottom of the Wigan flight of locks on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.
Reviews and Opinions
The book was reviewed on March 14, 1937. Edward Shanks reviewed it for The Sunday Times. Hugh Massingham reviewed it for The Observer.
Criticism of the Book
Harry Pollitt, a leader of the Communist Party of Great Britain, gave a very negative review. Pollitt knew Orwell and was from Lancashire, where the book is set. He praised Orwell's descriptions of mining and housing problems. However, he felt Road to Wigan Pier showed a snobbish view of working-class life.
Pollitt also criticized Orwell for judging people by their looks or style. He thought Orwell should have focused on whether they wanted to build a better world. Some critics on the Left often said Orwell claimed "the working classes smell." But Christopher Hitchens points out that Orwell actually wrote that it was middle-class people, like his own family, who believed this. It was not Orwell's own opinion.
See also
