Essays

The image of London in

The novel written by Amanda Craig reveals a side of London that one might normally not see, visiting London as a tourist or reading classical novels about it. In this essay, I would like to examine the image of London that Amanda Craig tries to illustrate.
The book deals with five different protagonists that have immigrated to London or are connected to immigration through their job, such as Polly, who is a human rights lawyer. There are different types of immigrants, for instance those who have immigrated illegaly and live on the edge of society and under harsh conditions, such as Job, who came from Zimbabwe and now works sixteen hours a day to provide for himself and send money home for his family. Anna also belongs to the twilight economy, having illegaly immigrated from the Ukraine and being forced into prostitution. But then, of course, there are legal immigrants, who also struggle with their own difficulites in life, but whose problems can not be compared to those of Job or Anna. These would include Katie, a non-confident editorial assistant, and Ian, a teacher at Samuel Smiles, which is a school filled with immigration children, bringing the problems of their countries with them. So as the story is told through the point of view of these characters, the reader can see different aspects of London, mostly more negative, since some of these people, especially Anna, found tremendous horror in London.
First of all, before the story or the preface begins, some extracts from poems or quotes are printed in the beginning of the book, one of them being from the poem written by T.S. Eliot. It already sets the mood for the picture of a rather depressing London, as it deals with a crowd gathered on London Bridge, that must be looking at some kind of catastrophe. There are many deaths and people can only look to their feet, an act of desperation and loneliness. Also the cold winter weather is already mentioned, in which the novel takes place, described through a somber colour such as brown.
Then the preface starts, introducing none of the protagonists, but giving the first description London. A body is being hidden in an area of ponds near Heath, the area being described as quiet, uncivilised, dark and terribly smelling, which all together provides an eerie amtmosphere. So it is already to be estimated that the story and its image of London will be a realistic, but non-pleasant one.
However, the positive aspects are also taken into account, at least scarcely. London is a big city with a huge economy that trades loads of money each day. In the second chapter, where Ian is introduced, the city is compared with a , which without doubt sounds positive and shows the reader the sparkling side of London on a cold winter’s night. But the positivity doesn’t last long, and Ian comes to see the body being pulled out again by the police at the muddy dreary ponds. The scene can be related to the extract from , for here there might not be a crowd, but also a few people gathered around to see a catastrophe, a dead cold body being raised out of a swamp.
In the novel, the wealthy parts of London are featured, just as the shady, poor ones. For Anna, a girl that gets out of her home country for the first time, everything seems stunning at first and she can’t help but be fascinated by the many colours of billboards, huge buildings, parks and churches. The beauty of London is not ignored, but later on it will seem as a facade to Anna and probably all immigrants ending up like her. Camden Lock for example, a sensation for tourists, only terrifies Anna after she has been through her worst time in London, with it’s flamboyant shops and restaurants.
Also the parts of London where the rich live are shown in a bad light. Hampstead Lane for example, with many villas and trees and cars flashing on by. Highgate Village is also one of these, filled with modern brick houses and clipped shrubs, with overpriced vehicles standing in front of them. Job explains this British way of living quite well, the people have cars and TVs and more food than they can eat, but yet they are conscious of nothing. Food is just thrown on the street, which must seem insane for someone coming from a country where food is a luxury. Also the many beggars of London are mentioned, which seem wry to Job, since they claim to be homeless and starving, but living in a relatively rich country like London probably can’t fully comprehend the meaning of those words.
All in all, Polly sums it up efficiantly when she calls London a , which is the image of London that many of these immigrants develop. In my opinion, Craig could have written a more positive book about London, since having been there quite a few times I have come to know and love the many beautiful facets of the city, including the Arts, shopping, the theatres and the many wonderful parks. Nontheless, she suceeded in creating an image of London that many average people, not having a lot to do with the poor, the immigrants or the twilight economy, would probably normally not be able to see. Even though the book is at times very depressing, it definetly enlightens the reader as to how the different legal and non-legal citizens living in London shape it’s multifarious image.


945 words
By LJ