New and improved Larkin essay

Philip Larkin

Larkin's poetry cynically portrays a society in which the proletariat "are deluding themselves" rather than presenting a hopeful picture of a society where "they [go] beyond the limits which society sets for them" To what extent do you agree with this statement? Make close reference to FOUR Larkin poems.

Philip Larkin’s ‘Whitsun Weddings’ collection (published in 1964) provides a host of examples of depictions in which the proletariat are deluding themselves. As opposed to exceeding society’s limits by breaking free of the consumerism that engulfs them into a sense of false consciousness. Larkin uses his cynicism and satiric stanzas to present an image to the reader of the capitalist society the proletariat inhabit.

Larkin attempts to create a relatable voice for the general public by using blunt, simplistic, often monosyllabic words in his poems. The opening lines of his poem ‘This Be The Verse’ provide a clear example of this. ‘They fuck you up, your mum and dad’ is concise and consolidates the purpose of his poem quickly. The use of ‘fuck you up’ is very uncommon within the realms of poetry; colloquial language has connotations with informality from critics, therefore deeming it inadequate to be categorised as high literature.  Burt, Stephen stated on 27^th May 2004 that Larkin was "The Poet of Dirty Words" perhaps because of his unique qualities when expressing himself without trying to moderate his language choices. Within this poem Larkin exposes the continuous circle of children inheriting their parents’ bad habits, despite how much they attempt to avoid it. Children tend to emulate their parents; causing a legacy of defects. It could be argued that Larkin goes on to offer an escape of the blame in lines 5-8 as current parents have only acquired their parents’ bad habits too, highlighting the universal tradition that isn’t necessarily down to personal fault. ‘Old-style hats and coats’ alludes to those of previous generations (e.g. parents/grandparents) – showing this collective blame on the history of all parents. Alternatively, it could be seen that ‘Old-style hats and coats’ offers an alternative reading as hats and coats may reflect wealth and power of the past generations of bourgeois. It is this group that have ‘fucked up’ the current proletariat who Larkin aims his poems at, and their fate is inevitable due the inequalities within the capitalist society, and the power the bourgeoisie possesses.  Although Larkin offers a form of escapism of the blame for the proletariat he makes it evident they constantly are accepting of the status quo and fail to disentangle themselves from the monotonous day to day routine they live by – this therefore agrees with the initial statement; illustrating their delusion. This work of Larkin’s contradicts the marxist view that it is inevitable that society will evolve into socialism due to the repetitive qualities within the poem. The influx of generations simply repeating themselves allows no opportunity for potential change, thus concluding that capitalism will dominate the lifestyle of populations for generations to come. Larkin’s ideas and works are not ‘internally inconsistent’ (Paul Sweezy) as critics argue Marx is  – Larkin’s cynicism empowers him and reflects a deliberate ploy by the controlling bourgeoisie to create a sense of futility and despondency in attempt to make the proletariat remain docile and compliant. This is necessary for the bourgeoisie as their puppets (the proletariat) need to be under complete control at all times in order to withhold the superstructure.

This idea of monotony within the lives of the proletariat is maintained throughout several of Larkin’s works. Larkin’s background of deriving from a middle class family and going on to acquire three years of education at Oxford University allowed him to discover the repetitive lifestyle of the lower classes. Another poem in which this is demonstrated is ‘The Large Cool Store’. The predominant impression the poem gives is that there is a clear inequality between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The working class desire to gain the lifestyle of the bourgeois class by aiming to dress in a similar sense to them, however, they fail to realise some similar styled clothes do not escape their day to day ‘drab’ lives and they will never gain the equality they desire.  A repetitive, monotonous society is exemplified through the description of the store. Similarly, simplistic language is used here which reflects the monotonous lives of the proletariat – predominantly the use of monosyllabic words are used to evoke the look and feel of department stores.  This use of dull language reflects the empty, materialistic workers that shop there. In this poem the proletariat are, again, deluding themselves as they delve into a sense of false consciousness by believing they will appear equal to the upper class by dressing in a similar way to them. This therefore agrees with the initial statement again as the workers fail to exceed the boundaries higher realms of authority have set for them.

Similarly, in the poem ‘Sunny Prestatyn’ the concept of purchasing something in attempt to gain and reflect your authority or equality is used here, as it is in The Large Cool Store. Advertisements are used to delude to lower class into believing that by buying something, they will achieve a better quality of life as a result. Larkin essentially explores social discontent and aspects of society’s mental and social brutality. The girl who appears on the poster for example (advertising this holiday destination) is vandalised despite not doing anything wrong; reflecting the uncaring world Larkin depicts. She is initially presented as a happy figure due to ‘laughed the girl on the poster’ and persuades the audience that they too will achieve happiness by visiting this holiday destination. Thus illustrating how the working class are led to believe, by adverts created by the bourgeois class, that if power is what they desire within society they must obtain the materialistic items that the bourgeoisie has deemed acceptable for them to own. However, this is merely a sense of false consciousness that has been developed by the proletariat – similar to theme presented in The Large Cool Store, buying these items only strengthens the authority of the bourgeois, and merely wastes the little disposable income the working class have access too, as opposed to gaining them any form of personal power. A man’s status within society is of utmost importance, it is evident Marx supports this as in his foreword to his 1859 Towards a Critique of Political Economy he states ‘It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness’. This consolidates the ideology that regardless of the mental strength of a person, if they do not belong to the ‘elite’ class (bourgeoisie) their talents are rendered useless as they cannot ever be respected in the same way an upper class member of society would be treated. In contrast to this, a myriad of readers believe the use of ‘laughed the girl’ is a reflection of the bourgeoisie physically humouring themselves at the belittling and exploitation of the proletariat. The proletariat are unaware of the dominative figures in society oppressing them, and so they continue in conducting their monotonous daily lives completely oblivious to the unequal system that forces them into having this lifestyle of full time, hard, manual labour. This point still however supports the statement in relation to the proletariat ‘deluding themselves’.

The theme of exploitation can also be argued to arise in more of Larkin’s poems. Mr Bleaney for example creates the idea of the proletariat being puppets owned, and controlled by the bourgeoisie. This idea of puppets derives from the dehumanising that occurs within the poem as Mr Bleaney’s character is merely represented as a body. Subsequently, Mr Bleaney is lacking characteristics or life which can be supported by the fact ‘Mr Bleaney remained in the room until 'they moved him'’ – he simply cannot function without the oppressive bourgeois controlling him as Mr Bleaney (representing the proletariat) has never known anything different. Larkin predominantly uses irony within this poem in order to depict the miserable plight of the modern man. Similarly his colloquial language (as seen in This Be The Verse) features in this poem, examples include ‘frigid wind’. This tone gives the poem an intimate, conversational feel. The enjambment used could also reflect the on-going, never ceasing nature of life. The nature of life for the proletariat however is repetitive, as seen in The Large Cool Store, Philip Larkin expresses the empty, monotonous and boring lifestyle Mr Bleaney had once lived. The ABAB rhyming scheme conveys a regular pattern, which is supported further by "I know his habbits" depicting a regular, mundane lifestyle. This lack of activity could be seen to be reflected within Mr Bleaney’s opinions; "Flowered curtains, thin and frayed fall to within five incges of the sill, whose window shows a strip of building land". His view is boring as is his lifestyle; both lack potential to achieve anything worthy of credit in the world due to his societal position. This could relate to Bertens’ idea from Literary Theory: The Basics stating ‘capitalism alienates them (labourers) from themselves by seeing them in terms of production… Capitalism turns people into things, it reifies them’. By reifying a human being and diminishing a form of human life into merely an object it becomes evident that this being will lack personality and the ability to form an opinion of their own. This quality is recognised within Mr Bleaney, The Large Cool store, This Be The Verse and Sunny Prestatyn as the proletariat continually fail to break free of the boundaries society sets for them. Bertens goes on to say ‘in our mind we can always be free. Wrong, says Marxism, minds aren’t free at all, they only think they are’. Thus supporting the ideology highlighted in the initial statement that the proletariat are in fact deluding themselves, as they are constantly entrapped by their own false consciousness which blinds them from the inequalities within society.