The Large Cool Store

The Large Cool Store

How does Larkin explore ideas of inequality between social classes?

The Large Cool Store was written by Philip Larkin in 1961. This poem presents the lives of the working class and the inequalities that they faced from society.   This poem emphasises the way the proletariats tried to convince themselves and the people around them that they were wealthier than they really were. However their true social class is evident throughout the poem.

The first way that the poem presents the working class is through the language used to describe the store. It says ‘selling cheap clothes set out in simple sizes plainly’. The first thing this quote shows is that the proletariats could only afford to buy ‘cheap clothes’ as they could not afford anything else. This suggests that the society was unfair and because they are lower class they are restricted by the limits the upper class, the bourgeoisie, have set for them. The rest of the language in the quote ‘simple’ and ‘plainly’ could also be used to portray the lives of the working class. These words could show the way that way the lower class people lived was very plain and simple as they didn’t have access to the nicer and more extravagant things in life, and that every day was the same.

Larkin then uses the clothes to reflect the lifestyle of the proletariats. He describes the clothes as ‘browns and greys, maroons and navy’. These colours are symbolic and represent their dull and boring lives. These colours also suggest the work setting which could imply that they would have worn these clothes for work too. This contrast to the bourgeoisie who would have had a variety of different clothes to wear many would have been very smart and expensive. Alternatively these colours are used to symbolize their environment as many of the proletariats lived in poor and dirty areas.  This is supported in the next two lines when he says ‘leave at dawn low terraced houses…for factory, yard and site’. This line shows poor houses and the work that they had to do to afford the cheap clothes.

Another way that the poem shows the inequality between the lower class and the upper class is when the poem says ‘the weekday world of those who leave at dawn’. This quote shows that the proletariats lived in a completely separate world and are alienated from the bourgeoisie. It shows that they the different classes don’t mix together. This is because they lived in a capitalist society and the bourgeoisie believed that they were much better than the lower class and for that reason didn’t have anything to do with them, besides employing them. As weekdays are the days for work it also suggests that the life of the proletariats evolved around working.

This poem also presents a false consciousness from the proletariats as they believe that if they buy clothes that appear to be wealthier than they really are will make them richer than they are and therefore accepted by the upper class. This is shown in the poem when he says ‘unreal wishes’, which shows that although this is what they want and believe will happen it will not. This is because the money from the clothes that they buy to appear wealthier goes to the bourgeoisie making them richer. This increases the gap between the bourgeoisie and the proletariats. It also keeps the support of the base and superstructure going.

The proletariats’ buying certain clothes to seem wealthier additionally leads to alienation not just from the bourgeoisie but also from themselves as they try to become someone else. Andrew Motion, a Marxist critic, agreed with this idea saying ‘the argument is whether the shoppers are deluding themselves when they buy something or are they going beyond the limits which society sets the’. Andrew Motion also suggests that they bought the clothes to rebel against their society.

To conclude this poem was written by Larkin to show the inequalities and alienation that the proletariats suffered from because of the bourgeoisie. It also presents the false consciousness believed by the proletariats, about them buying commodities to appear wealthier than they were.