When he had finished drawing, Owen remained for a few minutes awkwardly silent, oppressed by the anticipation of ridicule and a sense of his inability to put his thoughts into plain language. He began to wish that he had not undertaken this task. At last, with an effort, he began to speak in a halting, nervous way:
“This circle—or rather the space inside the circle—is supposed to represent England.”
“Well, I never knowed it was round before,” jeered Crass. “I’ve heard as the WORLD is round—”
“I never said it was the shape—I said it was supposed to REPRESENT England.”
“Oh, I see. I thought we’d very soon begin supposin’.”
“The two black squares,” continued Owen, “represent the people who live in the country. The small square represents a few thousand people. The large square stands for the remainder—about forty millions—that is, the majority.”
“We ain’t sich bloody fools as to think that the largest number is the minority,” interrupted Crass.
“The greater number of the people represented by the large black square work for their living: and in return for their labour they receive money: some more, some less than others.”
“You don’t think they’d be sich bloody fools as to work for nothing, do you?” said Newman.