The Road to Wigan Pier

“Earlier than that, I suppose, there were factory whistles which I was never awake to hear.” 

The Road to Wigan Pier opens by guiding the reader through the sensory experience of living in one of the rundown, filthy lodging houses. Orwell has already adjusted to the deafening, clattering sounds all around him, to the point where he learns to sleep through the screeching factory whistles. He has therefore learned that part of being poor is being forced to adjust and deal with uncomfortable surroundings. The lower classes cannot change the sounds, the sights, or the cleanliness of their living conditions, so they must struggle through anyway. 

“It was said that they were overheard anxiously asking the insurance-tout ‘how long people lived when they’d got cancer.’” 

The Brookers appear almost comically evil in certain passages of the book. Orwell describes Mr. Brooker as a filthy, money-obsessed exploiter, while he is disgusted by Mrs. Brooker’s way of life. Their plots concerning the elderly people who live in their home are especially repugnant; they hope to get a payout from the life insurance policies they’ve taken out in the old people’s name and wish that their deaths would come even sooner. The Brookers therefore reflect the callousness of capitalist society, which prioritizes profit over health and human lives.