Larkin's poetry cynically portrays a society in which the proletariat 'are deluding themselves' rather than presenting a hopeful picture of a society where 'they go beyond the limits which society sets for them'.

When reviewing Larkin's poetry, one statement that can be extracted is the fact that he is portraying a society where the lower classes are being deluded into thinking they can escape the depravity of the life they are living in. This is contrasting to the idea that the working classes are perfectly able to accomplish a better quality of life if they work hard and 'go beyond the limits' set there by society. However, it can also be demonstrated that in some aspects of Larkin's poetry, he does create a situation in which he believes it is sometimes possible to escape the entrapment of a working-class lifestyle...

Mr Bleaney is one of Larkin's earlier poems and concerns the poet himself buying a property once owned by the late Mr Bleaney, acknowledgeable by the use of 'was' to describe the room of interest of the poet. Almost instantaneously, the reader gets an idea of the entrapment that Larkin was trying to convey- seen on the second line in the dialogue of a supposed housekeeper. When the reader is told that Mr Bleaney was at 'the Bodies', a sense of ambiguity can be recognised, as not only could this be referring to the place in which Mr Bleaney worked, but it could also be describing Mr Bleaney in a physical manner. By representing this character as merely a body, it can be said to dehumanise him slightly, almost as if Larkin is saying he is not a person, just a means that can be exploited by the Bourgeoisie. Furthermore, as Mr Bleaney remained in the room until 'they moved him', it further creates an image of him appearing dead and lifeless. However, it is the 'they' in that line that can be said to demonstrate the delusion expressed by the proletariat, as it can be said that the 'they' is referring to the Bourgeoisie and the control they would have had over Mr Bleaney- perhaps a representation of the lower-class. This torpid state of Mr Bleaney could be said to dehumanise him in the sense that he becomes a puppet for the Bourgeoisie, meaning he is no longer in control of his own life due to the extent in which he is dominated by them. As the Bourgeoisie owns Mr Bleaney's possessions and the base in which he is a part of, it can be said that he is therefore owned by the upper classes- also in control of the means of production which Mr Bleaney needs to exist. This overpowered character is used by Larkin to show that, due to proletariat being unable to break free of the ties to the Bourgeoisie, they are undoubtedly going to be unable to break free of the bonds of society.

As ambiguity is used as a tool by Larkin to convey two aspects of his views, this can also be seen in another of his poems, the Large Cool Store. Even the title of the poem contains a sense of ambiguity, as the word cool can be described as something positive, by metaphorically meaning trendy, but can also be described negatively by portraying something that is literally cold. By appearing to be positively representing the proletariat on the surface but in fact looking down on them in reality, it suggests that due to these patronising views towards the lower classes he is not going to present a hopeful society for them. In fact, the central theme of The Large Cool Store is that the lower-class will buy these outdated and cheap but somewhat fashionable clothing in order to escape the depravity they face and appear to be of the status of the Bourgeoisie- by wearing their style of clothing. However the way in which Larkin demonstrates this theme is by saying that they are therefore lazy in doing this, as all they care about is appearing wealthy, instead of working hard and escaping poverty. This in the sense shows how the proletariat are deluded as Larkin is saying that as the lower classes depend on fashion in order to gain mental wealth, they will be unable to accomplish any achievement in life- which to him would be the gaining of wealth. As he believes this was the attitude of the majority of the lower class, it shows how he thought they could never break through the barrier of hierarchy.

As Larkin's ideas began to develop, and because he conveyed these through his poetry, it can be observed how the poets ideologies grew stronger in some of his later poetry. In 'This Be The Verse', it is evident from the strong taboo words how Larkin feels about the subject. The main theme of the poem is about the inevitability of the curse of the lower class, that however much you try to avoid it, unless your parents were wealthy, you will not be either. However, different to the previous poems, Larkin almost seems to be identifying the fact that even though some try and go beyond the limits set there by society, your inherited faults will always get the better of you. This slightly contradicts the statement that says the proletariat are deluding themselves as it is therefore saying that depravity is handed down from man, and that this could be the cause of poverty, even though some do try and counter it. On the other hand, it could be said that this in fact depicts the proletariat as being contrary to this- that they believe it's not their fault that they were faced with these hardships so therefore don't do anything about it. They are content in their poverty knowing that it was someone else that caused it.