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The Large Cool Store by Phillip Larkin

How does Larking explore the inequality between social classes?


The Large Cool Store is a poem by Phillip Larkin. Philip Larkin was a
man who lived in England between 1920 and 1985. The poem is
based on Marks and Spencers which in those days was a cheap
fashion retailer and the modern equivalent to Primark.
The society that is presented in the text is obviously a capitalist
society and Marks and Spencers solely exists to make a profit
through selling cheap clothing. The word Cool from the title has
two meanings. The large Cool Store the word Cool refers to being
fashionable which relates to people wanting to be fashionable and
the second meaning having cold connotations and also means
heartless and cynical. This can be used to view the individual store
and on a much wider scale the representation of the society which
Larkin lived in. Larkin lived in a capitalist society where the
bourgeoisie were rich and their wealth continued to expand and the
proletariat were kept poor through unfair treatment. The word
fashionable has three synonyms the first is the characteristic of,
influenced by, or representing a current popular style. The second is
(of a person) dressing or behaving according to the current trend
and the last is (of a place) frequented by fashionable people. The
word simple also has three synonyms: easily understood or done;
presenting no difficulty. Plain, basic, or uncomplicated in form,
nature, or design; without much decoration or ornamentation and a
medicinal herb, or a medicine made from one. There are lots of
synonyms for the same word which help different audiences to
explore the text in different ways and create different meanings.
As Marks and Spencers is cheap but fashionable shop this reflect
the consumers that will be attracted to it people with lesser money
that are trapped in the social system the proletariats will shop there.
They are people who work then spend their earnings and all have a
false consciousness and are continuing to by into the status quo.
Set out in simple sizes plainly this refers to how simple and
standard the clothing that the shop sells but also represents the
consumers who buy the clothing as simple and plain.
The people and protagonist fully accept the social order and the
false consciousness as the continue to live there lifes with out
consideration to how un fair the capitalist society in which they live
is. These people are blue collared people and working class In
browns and greys, maroons and navy) this represents how dull and
unfavourable the society they live in is to them. They are affected
by the socio-economic circumstances of the society as they work
hard but still remain poor. The bourgeoisie control them and they
cannot escape. leave at dawn low terraced houses they live in
terraced housing which is typical of the working class. In the

industrial revolution many cheap-terraced housing were made for


the workers to live in which shows that Larkin is emphasising how
the unfair society continues which reinforces the fact that Marxists
believe that a capitalist society is flawed and unfair for the people.
The working class and the people who shop at Marks and Spencers
are alienated and trapped; they cannot escape. Timed for factory,
yard and site they work in factors and participate in manual and
hard physical labour. They have a lack of education all due to their
social status, which limits there potential and opportunities. The
bourgeoisie have trapped them since birth and now they have to
work hard to survive and earn a living. They are alienated from
society and deemed powerless, they have no freedom and are
controlled by the social hierarchy of the bourgeoisies who control
the base and the means of the production. Larkin purposely uses a
simple rhyme scheme throughout which is a ABABA, Larkin uses this
rhyme scheme to show the lives of the working class and just how
repetitive and, monotone and boring there lifes really are, By Larkin
doing this it helps to enforce and emphasise how marginalised the
people within this society truly are.
From the language that Larkin uses in this poem, we also learn
about his character and his attitudes towards women and social
class. He inherently uses very dull words with less description to
describe mens clothing but he uses more flamboyant terminology
and more descriptive language to describe women. To describe
mens clothing he simply uses browns and greys, maroons and
navy) and heaps of shirts and trousers this is to represent what
men were and generally there personality and attitudes. In relation
to context Larkin was a librarian and was very rude and dismissive,
He was an aggressive character, which shows, through his writing
and particularly his attitudes to women. Larkin was a very sexually
frustrated man and very confused when it came to women which
drove him to arguable feeling hatred emotions towards them. To
describe his views on women he uses the use of the womens
clothing and the colours, Lemon, sapphire, moss-green, rose- BriNylon Baby- Dolls and Shorties Larkin uses this description to show
indirectly show his hatred by purposely going into detail and before
that directly insults them embroidered, thin as blouses meaning
there are no depth to women and they are simple beings. From
another critical interpretation of feminism they would deem this to
show a patriarchal society where women are not seen as equal and
are marginalised and discriminated against by men. In Marxism
likewise to feminine both critical interpretations look at how
different groups and people in society are alienate and treated. In
Marxism the proletariat are treated poorly and exploited by the
bourgeoisie and in a feminist interpretation women are treated
poorly and exploited by by men.

However Larkin may also be using the working class to show that
the clothing bought by the cloth store keeps you more trapped then
ever before. Larkin uses materialistic and superficial language by
the representation of the week day cloths In Browns and greys,
maroons and navy) and also the going out cloths Lemon,
Sapphire, moss- green, rose to show how the proletariats think they
are free by buying these more exiting and colourful clothing as they
believe they are buying into the petit bourgeoisie aspiration as they
are going out in more extravagant clothing but are actually further
trapping themselves through false consciousness and there
acceptance of the status quo and social system. They are further
trapping themselves through working and belonging to the
lower/working class and then going and spending their money on
the items of clothing from Marks and Spencers. This is helping to
keep the bourgeoisies wealthy and themselves the proletariats poor.
This is due to them working and then spending there money each
week until they die with is benefiting the upper class and the
capitalist society meaning there is no escape and it is a constant
cycle. They share that world, to think their sort is they are trying
to be equal to the bourgeoisie. Andrew motion would also agree
with this due to him saying Larkin sees drab houses, drab colours,
drab lives and drab people during the week trying to change by
night into something they are not. This further supports the fact
that there lives are one big repetitive circle and they are trying to
aspire to something hey are not but however does not work as they
are still trapped in the lower class and can not escape the social
system.
Larkin shows a certain pessimistic view toward the proletariats as he
recognises there dystopian. How separate and unearthly love is he
recognises and portrays them as unequals. In conclusion Larkin
explores the inequality between social classes through representing
them in the cloths and there aspirations but throughout the reader
will slowly realise that the proletariats are doomed. As this poem
was not written so along ago and Larkin him self did not live that
long ago the readers of today and then will of shared the same view
the reader of then and now also share the same capitalist society
and it is still present and people are still struggling in the modern
day due to the bourgeoisies.

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