Slums
Orwell explains, "There were real slums hardly five minutes' walk away. Tenement houses where families slept five in a bed, and when one of them died, slept every night with the corpse until it was buried; alley-ways where girls of fifteen were deflowered by boys of sixteen against leprous plaster walls." Manifestly, overcrowding is rife in the slums. Residents dwell in paucity for they cannot afford decent homes. Moreover, the inability to preserve corpses in morgues underscores the extreme poverty in slums. Obviously, the affluent individuals would not be expected to dwell in the slums due to the severe conditions which would make their lives unbearable.
“Darwinian Struggle”
Orwell expounds, "In all bookshops there goes on savage Darwinian struggle in which the works of living men gravitate to eye-level and the works of living men gravitate to eye-level and the works of dead men go up or down-down to Gehenna or up to the throne, but always away from any position where they will be noticed." An imagery of struggle indicates that dead authors' works are not on high demand when compared to works by existing authors. Organization of the books is largely dependent on the author's status. Once an author' dies, the readership of his/her works reduces significantly. Accordingly, dead authors' works are continuously struggling to be noticed by the readers.
Money
Orwell elucidates, “He (Comstock) took out a snooty-looking volume-Some Aspects of the Italian Baroque- opened it, read a paragraph, and shoved it back with mingled loathing and envy…That noxious, horn-spectacled refinement! And the money that such refinement means! For after all, what is there behind it, except money? Money for the right kind of education, money for influential friends, money for leisure and peace of mind, money for trips to Italy. Money writes books, money sells them.” Money is an instrumental resource in the attainment of various objectives, since authors require money for their works to be refined and sold. Without money, it would be difficult for an author to market his or her works. Comstock’s payer is to be moneyed so he can forge forward with his writing ambitions. Deficiency of money reduces the likelihood to achieving success in one’s endeavors.
Hard times ahead
“The last member of the Comstock family,” aged “twenty-nine” and “rather moth-eaten already,” lounged across the table, “pushing a four-penny packet of Player’s Weights open and shut with his thumb.” Gordon tried and made an effort to sit upright and then he stowed his packet of cigarettes away “in his inside pocket.” He was “perishing for a smoke,” but there were “only four cigarettes left.” Today was Wednesday and he had “no money coming to him till Friday.” It would be “too bloody to be without tobacco tonight as well as tomorrow!” Gordon was “bored in advance by tomorrow’s tobaccoless hours” and his life in general. This imagery evokes a feeling of boredom and sleepiness. It seems that Gordon lacks energy.
Gloominess
Gordon gazed out through “the glass door.” “A foul day,” he thought, “and the wind was rising.” The sky was “leaden,” “the cobbles of the street were slimy.” It was “St. Andrew’s Day, the thirtieth of November.” Gordon’s bookshop stood on the corner, “on a sort of shapeless square where four streets converged.” To the left stood “a great elm-tree, leafless now, its multitudinous twigs making sepia –coloured lace against the sky.” “Opposite, next to the Prince of Wales,” were “the tall hoardings covered with ads for parent foods and parent medicine.” It looked like “a gallery of monstrous doll-faces” full of “optimism.” This imagery helps readers to immerse themselves into the atmosphere of that cold autumn day. It evokes that hopeless feeling that only leaden sky and chilly winds can bring.
Not his dashing self
The reflection of Gordon’s own face “looked back at him” from “the dust-dulled pane.” That was “not a good face.” “Not thirty yet, but moth-eaten already.” It was “very pale, very bitter,” with “ineradicable lines.” He had “what people called a good forehead,” but “a small pointed chin,” so that the face “as whole” was “pear-shaped” rather than “oval.” His hair was “mouth-coloured and unkempt, mouth unamiable, eyes hazel inclining to green.” Gordon “hated mirrors nowadays.” As if to make the situation even worse, the nature decided to paint everything grey that day. “All was bleak and wintry.” This imagery shows Gordon’s dissatisfaction with both himself and the world.
