The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell (Book Analysis)

This practical and insightful reading guide offers a complete summary and analysis of The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell. It provides a thorough exploration of the book’s content and main themes, as well as a useful introduction to the context in which it was written. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.

This clear and detailed 46-page reading guide is structured as follows:

• Biography of George Orwell
• Presentation of The Road to Wigan Pier
• Summary of The Road to Wigan Pier
• Social and historical context
  • The rise of the documentary
  • Historical context
  • Mass unemployment
  • Political thought
• Analysis of The Road to Wigan Pier
  • Poverty and unemployment
  • Class prejudice
  • Advocacy of Socialism
  • Genre: fact or fiction?

About The Road to Wigan Pier

The Road to Wigan Pier details Orwell’s experiences travelling through a number of northern industrial towns and witnessing at first hand the devastating effects of widespread unemployment and government budget cuts. This is combined with an impassioned plea in support of Socialism, which Orwell saw as the only way to stave off the rise of Fascism throughout the world. Although The Road to Wigan Pier met with a mixed critical reception when it was first published, it is now widely seen as an powerful work of social criticism.

About George Orwell

George Orwell (real name Eric Arthur Blair) was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. He was born in Motihari (British India) in 1903, and later served in the Imperial Police in Burma before resigning in 1928 to devote himself to writing. After this, he spent time in Paris and London and held a number of different jobs, including bookseller, teacher and columnist.

Orwell’s best-known works include 1984, Animal Farm, Down and Out in Paris and London, Homage to Catalonia, which is based on his experiences during the Spanish Civil War, and The Road to Wigan Pier, inspired by the time he spent with workers in the north of England. He is now widely considered to be one of the greatest British writers of the 20^th century.