Goerge Orwell

’s Keep The Aspidistra Flying Essay, Research Paper

George Orwell s Keep The Aspidistra Flying takes place in the 1930 s London.The main character is Gordon Comstock, a middle-class poet who has learned to hatemoney. The book takes you through Gordon s struggle against the Money God withwhom he began waging war early in his life. The novel follows Gordon through hisstruggle with poverty, and on his road to maturity. It takes you through almost two yearsof Gordon s journey of self discovery . The novel begins when Gordon is working at an advertising firm called the NewAlbion. All his life, Gordon s family has pressured him to get a good job and makesomething for himself. The New Albion is exactly the kind of good job that he hasgrown to despise. There, he meets Rosemary who becomes his devoted girlfriend. He hasseen what money has done to people and he doesn t want anything to do with it. Thiscauses Gordon to quit the New Albion and settle for a job at a shabby London bookstoremaking half of what he used to make. He spends his nights shivering in a rented room,

trying to write. To Gordon, everything revolves around money, or in his situation, a lackthereof. Rosemary is understanding and patient of him. Gordon, however, doesn tunderstand that, and even feels like the only reason that she won t sleep with him isbecause of his lack of funds. The middle of the book comes when Rosemary does finally sleep with Gordon andshe ends up getting pregnant. Even after this news, Gordon refuses to give up his fightagainst the money world. He loses his bookstore job and is still stubborn as ever andwon t accept charity from anyone. Through everything, Rosemary is still there for him. The end of the novel is actually when Gordon gives up his war on the money world. He comes to the conclusion that he must do the right thing in marrying Rosemary. In doing that, he has reached his maturity. He gets his job at the New Albion back, andthe typical happy ending takes place.