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 hate money. The

book takes you through Gordon s struggle against the Money God with whom he began

waging war early in his life. The novel follows Gordon through his struggle with poverty,

and on his road to maturity. It takes you through almost two years of Gordon s journey

of self discovery .

The novel begins when Gordon is working at an advertising firm called the New

Albion. All his life, Gordon s family has pressured him to get a good job and make

something for himself. The New Albion is exactly the kind of good job that he has

grown to despise. There, he meets Rosemary who becomes his devoted girlfriend. He has

seen what money has done to people and he doesn t want anything to do with it. This

causes Gordon to quit the New Albion and settle for a job at a shabby London bookstore

making 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 lack

thereof. Rosemary is understanding and patient of him. Gordon, however, doesn t

understand that, and even feels like the only reason that she won t sleep with him is

because of his lack of funds.

The middle of the book comes when Rosemary does finally sleep with Gordon and

she ends up getting pregnant. Even after this news, Gordon refuses to give up his fight

against the money world. He loses his bookstore job and is still stubborn as ever and

won 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, and

the typical happy ending takes place.