In West London, Arnold describes a coldness toward the rich and an interesting camaraderie between the poor. The “tramp” in West London sends her daughter after local workmen to beg, and the little girl returns “satisfied.” However, when rich people pass by, the woman lets them “pass with frozen stare.” I think there are a few reasons she might have done this. Arnold states “She will not ask of aliens, but of friends, Of sharers in a common human fate,” but he does not extensively describe the woman’s reason for this. It seems most likely that the woman believes she and her children will have better luck begging from people who understand their condition than from the rich, who have no knowledge of the poor’s suffering. But I wonder if it is hopelessness, pride, or animosity that prevents the woman from begging the rich. She may know from experience that the rich will not help her, or she may not want to grovel at the feet of someone who looks at her as if she is the alien. The “frozen stare” she gives them may also imply her contempt for the selfish upper class, or even terror at the power they possess. Even if knowing the woman’s motivations is not key in understanding Arnold’s point in the poem, I am still curious to hear what others think about this.
I feel it is safe to assume, given the extreme classist order of the time, that the mother's character was born into the beggar's fate. Given this life of utter struggle and poverty, the young girl perhaps does not identify with or acknowledge the wealthy people at all, but rather regards them as "aliens", creatures with experiences so immensely removed from her circumstance of suffering to even imagine associating with, as a result of the vast disparity between the quality of their lives (the lives of the lower and upper classes). Perhaps the humanity of the upper class, peaked and hidden beyond the clouds, has been stretched too thin for the beggars to see anything at all of themselves within the pampered hearts of the aristocracy.
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