Coming Up for Air by George Orwell is a frank story about a simple man who doesn’t have a clear future. Truth to be told, it is not his fault. Just like millions of other people, George is a toy in hands of people who are going to turn the world into sheer hell. However, the Second World War is still pretty far ahead and George has time to think about such a trivial thing as his false teeth.
So, why is he so concerned with a fact that the teeth in his mouth are not “natural” anymore? First of all, the man is afraid of aging. When we are young, we are full of hopes, bold, carefree, because there millions of opportunities for us to pick up. The world seems to be a wonderful place where everything is possible. George used to be like that too. However, time changes him too, just like it changes the rest of us. His cheerfulness is replaced with a feeling of worry and fear. He has a wife whose main goal is to foreshadow petty disasters, two kids that depend on him, a cold house, and a pile of bills. No wonder that those poor false teeth become a breaking point for the man. They just remind him of the fact that time flies really fast, he is getting older and there is nothing he can do about it. It might seem a little bit funny that George worries about it when there is a great chance of a new war starting, but he doesn’t really care about it. This man doesn’t try to seem a better person than he really is.
George’s childhood recollections leave a bittersweet aftertaste. It is as clear as a day that he loves old England and its past. He likes its clear ponds, rivers, forests, little farms, and tiny shops where an owner and a shop-assistant are the same person. His childhood used to be much simpler than the present with all its threats and difficulties. England he used to know and love is a part of the past that no one cares about anymore.
Coming up for air is also about difficulties. Just like his neighbors, George has to deal with a great amount of problems. He has to buy clothes for his children, pay for their school, and provide his family with food. The problem is that he is sick and tired of being “dairy-cow.” His little life crisis and the world crisis happen to take place simultaneously. The whole world goes mad and so does he.
