Give Us This Day - ACE120.2

Caption: "My father only ever had two books, one was the Bible, the other was The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists." "Robert Tressell" writing. VO: "In writing this book my intention was to present, in the form of an interesting story, a faithful picture of working-class life … in a small town in the south of England…. This was the task I set myself. To what extent I have succeeded is for others to say; but whatever their verdict, the work possesses at least one merit - that of being true. I have invented nothing. There are no scenes or incidents in the story that I have not either witnessed myself or had conclusive evidence of." Noonan’s daughter, Kathleen. Commentary says that Robert Noonan completed The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists in 1910; the book has been extremely influential. Waves. Commentary gives basic biographical details. Action continues. In 1901, Noonan takes lodgings in Hastings, England, with his daughter, Kathleen. Noonan talking to his sister about the condition of the poor people he’s seen. Photographs of Hastings. Tressell VO talking about a situation of "perpetual poverty". Commentary notes that unemployment was high at this date. Noonan looking for work as a designer with Burtons, a building firm. Noonan painting decorative motifs on a wall. Suggests to his sister that he’d need to be "brutal and selfish" to succeed in his own business. At work on a house-painting job. VO on the foreman and the boss, and their mission "to enable the head of the firm to accumulate money". Noonan talking to fellow workers, the foreman goading him by complaining that "foreigners" are taking the jobs.