Mr Reilly
An elderly mechanic employed on top at one of the coal pits, in the bed jammed against the foot of Orwell's. He left for work at five in the morning, which is the only reason Orwell could straighten his legs. The Brookers called him their best lodger and held it against him that he woke the landlady on his way downstairs.
The book
At a glance
- One of the five permanent lodgers at the Brookers'
- A mechanic of sorts, employed on the surface at a coal pit
- Elderly; the book gives no number
- Not described
- Left for work at five in the morning
- Part One, chapter 1
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeThe first chapter of the book is set in a lodging house above a tripe shop in a northern mining town, in a room that had once been a drawing-room and now held four beds. Mr Reilly had the bed across the foot of George Orwell's. It was jammed hard against it, because that was the only position that allowed the door to open, and it meant Orwell slept with his legs doubled up. If he straightened them he kicked Reilly in the small of the back.
The book records what Reilly did and almost nothing about what he was like. He was an elderly man, a mechanic of sorts, employed on top at one of the coal pits, which is to say on the surface rather than at the coal face Orwell describes in the next chapter. He was one of only five permanent lodgers, along with a Scotch miner disabled in a pit accident, two old-age pensioners, and an unemployed man named Joe. Orwell gives no account of his face, his clothes, his family, or anything he said.
He left for work at five in the morning. Orwell notes the hour with some relief, because it gave him a couple of hours of proper sleep with his legs uncoiled. The Brookers, who kept the house, called Reilly their best lodger, and he was in disgrace all the same: Mrs Brooker said he woke her when he came downstairs in the mornings. Orwell makes the point about landladies rather than about Reilly. The Brookers had a grievance against every lodger in the house, Orwell included.
How the book draws them
- What the book gives of himAn elderly man, a mechanic of sorts, employed 'on top' at one of the coal pits. That is the whole of it. Orwell describes no feature of his face, names no garment, and never reports a word he said. The work was on the surface, not underground, so none of the marks the book records on miners belong to him.
- The bed at the foot of Orwell'sJammed hard against it, in the only position that let the bedroom door open. Orwell slept with his legs doubled up, and straightening them meant kicking Reilly in the small of the back.
- Five in the morningThe hour he left for work, and the reason Orwell got a couple of hours of proper sleep once he had gone.
- Their best lodger, and in disgraceThe Brookers said he was the best lodger they had. They also complained that he woke Mrs Brooker coming downstairs. Orwell notes that they held something against every lodger in the house.
- Have another cream cracker, Mr ReillySupper at the house was pale flabby Lancashire cheese and biscuits, and the Brookers never called the biscuits biscuits. Orwell records the line as it was said to Reilly, and says the reverent name for them covered the fact that there was nothing else.