Good Essay About An Analysis Of Hotel Kitchens By George Orwell

I was not there, however, I trust history; and as I read this story my images of slavery become stronger and stronger. I could picture the slaves in the belly of the ship and compare it to the workers in the cellar of what is known as the kitchen; and the only difference between the two is the place and time.
The very first sentence of the story grabs the reader; as it describes the service entrance and compares it to a “rat hole.” Unfortunately, the story does not get any better; the circumstances under which these workers work are deplorable. One gets the chill as images appear of a narrow, poorly lit passage, sometimes so low the writer could not stand straightly. The writer says it reminds him “queerly of the lower decks of a liner, there were the same heat and cramped space and warm reek of food” (634). The work is easier than the working conditions; “it was easy work.” The writer says that he was taken to a cellar under the cellar where the temperature could have been one hundred ten degrees fahrenheit.
In his little underground cellar, he is more comfortable than the kitchen workers. “The kitchen was like nothing I had ever seen or imagined – a stifling, low ceiling inferno of a cellar, red lit from the fires”(635). Surprisingly, no one is ever reported fainting or dying. The fires are kept aglow by men who are naked to the waist; either it is too hot for them to wear anymore clothe or they might set themselves afire, or both. Whatever the reasons are it is a cruel and unconscionable environment; not even animals should be exposed to such disgraceful conditions. The hotel is considered chic, caters to the upper class of society; it presents the best of itself, yet the patrons have no idea how unhygienic their food is prepared. With twelve cooks running around with temperatures over one hundred degrees fahrenheit and sweating like a galloping horse, sweat must often drop in the food. The work setting is so terrible that when the writer is given his pay at the end of the day the assistant manager is amazed that he wants to continue working there.
The one difference between the setting of the story and the days of slavery is, the underclass is paid to subject themselves to these punishing situations.