Odour of Chrysanthemums by D.H Lawrence

Today in class we read an extract from the story 'Odour of Chrysanthemums' by D H Lawrence.

The story is set in 1911 and explores a time in Great Britain when industry was taking over. Britain's economy was expanding through exports. Many men were employed in the mines and they worked long hours in poor conditions. Poverty was common and living standards were low. Machines were taking priority over the people. Many workers went on strike and demanded better pay and work conditions. The lower class consisted of laborers and the cycle was rarely ever broken.

Lawrence sets his story in the countryside. However, this isn't the kind of countryside full of fresh air and singing birds. It's a dying place.  'The fields were dreary and forsaken'.  Although the environment in which the story is set may not be as dark and dreary as it is seen as being a lifeless place through the eyes of those that live there. Clinging to life the 'large bony vine clutched at the house' as though it were just holding on.  A layer of thick smog settles on everything present in the scene.  Nothing can escape the industrial pollution.  Nothing can exists.  Lawrence uses a lot of language techniques such as personification and similes to drill into the reader's mind a picture as dark as the Britain in his head.  An example of a simile from the text is when Lawrence describes the pit-bank.  He says it 'loomed up beyond the pond, flames like red sores licking its ashy sides'.  This description makes the reader associate the landscape with unpleasant images usually associated with hell.  Through Lawrence's creative use of language and words he is able to position the reader so they see 1911 Britain as a dark, evil and bland place. 

The people in the story are suppressed by the blanket of smog that rules their lives.  Many of them exists without personality.  They are mealy just objects.  They are not people.  At the beginning of the extract we are introduced to a women who is startled by the loud locomotive engine as it clunks past her.  The woman is symbolic as she represents the British people who have had to take second place to industrial machines.  Next we meet the miners.  A majority of Britain's working class.  They follow each other in a collective mass of suffering.  'Like shadows diverging home' they march through life.  Without freedom.  Without heart.  Without life.  A woman waits outside her house.  Her white apron runs a contrast to her surroundings and we find that she is the only beautiful creature left in the godforsaken land in which she lives.  'Imperious mien, handsome, with definite black eyebrows' she stands with an expression of 'disillusionment'.  Her son nearby is the perfect example of poverty.  He is dressed in hard material that has been cut down from a man's clothes.  He is a future miner and you can tell this by his actions.  Aged around five he acts like a stubborn teenager.  Weighed down by his environment he is far from the optimistic child he should be. 

This extract communicates what a sad time 1911 was for Britain's lower class.  As the industrial era loomed so did the destruction of the environment.  The lower class were forced to live in conditions that shouldn't have to be endured by anyone.  They took the back seat to Britain's exports.  This story is a perfect example of a Marxist text this is because it shows what living in the lower class was like.  Many people were trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty.  Their jobs and fate weighing them down.  The woman is a symbol of thousands of women who were stuck in lives where their children were raised in poor environments and were married to lifeless men who sucked the end of a beer bottle until they could see no more.  

Overall the extract was a perfect depiction of life in 1911 and adds many depths to the way we as future readers see the industrial revolution.  Through clever writing techniques Laurence was able to paint the perfect picture of lower class life