Down and Out in Paris and London Chapter Summary & Analysis - Chapter 22 Summary

Chapter 22 Summary

The narrator poses the idea that plongeurs are the slaves of the modern world and that their slave labor is in vain because their efforts are not really needed. Some people's efforts, like coal miners, are really needed, but a plongeur's work really isn't necessary to civilization because people don't really need to eat in restaurants. They could get much better food prepared in private houses.

He believes that the instinct to keep people in slavery results from fear of the mob, and that fear of the mob is generally attributed to intelligent, cultivated people. The narrator believes that the rich imagine their liberty to be at stake if the poor are not kept in poverty. "To sum up. A plongeur is a slave, and a wasted slave, doing stupid and largely unnecessary work."

Chapter 22 Analysis

The narrator has changed his tune since coming to the Auberge de Jehan Cottard. While working...
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