George Orwell Essays
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ziasudraGEORGE ORWELL
1903-1950
George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair in Motihari, India, on June 25, 1903. He died in London, England on January 21, 1950.
He went to school in Eton. After graduation, he joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma (1922). This would be about the time when he wrote "Shooting An Elephant," which takes place in Lower Burma.
Orwell is known for a variety of his writings: essays, political criticisms, novels (Animal Farm and 1984), and documentaries.
He worked for the BBC Eastern Service during World War II.
The notes in this entry are for Quiz #1! I'm posting them here just for consistency's sake. See my next post for the Orwell essays which we'll be tested on for the Nov. 17 quiz.
POLITICIS AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
1950
Orwell’s purpose for the essay is two-pronged: 1) to decry the decay of the English language, 2) to link the decay of English with political authoritarianism.
Regarding point #1, his recommendation is basically: use simple language. If there’s a way to state something in either one word or 10, use one. Avoid jargons, don’t use trite metaphors, etc. Page 170 has his list of grammar rules if you’re interested.
Point #2 grows out of point #1. He blames politicians for using obtuse language. He accuses them for not really knowing what they are saying (and for those who do, not wanting their audience to understand what’s being said). Politicians use vague language to sound intelligent. Power is contained by maintaining the image that “commoners” are not smart enough to understand politics (thus not qualified to run for office).
In short: those in authority abuse the English language.
Quotes:
p. 163 – Ecclesiastes paraphrase. Prof. Schroth read this out loud in class: “objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.”
p. 167 – “When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink.”
p. 171 – “Political language – and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists – is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”
Anything that sounds similar along the line of the above quotes would be possibilities.
ORWELL ON DICKENS
1940
This is one essay I find it hard for Schroth to pull a quote from: practically every other line mentions the name “Dickens,” which would give the answer away. But regardless...
This is Orwell’s analysis of Dickens and his works. Orwell fully acknowledges Dickens’ writing skills, deserved popularity, etc., but he is also critical. He practically goes through all of Dickens’ works. In doing so, he sticks to a few criticisms:
- Dickens writes sensitively about the poor, but ultimately he writes from an upper class perspective. p. 72: “Dickens had grown up near enough to poverty to be terrified of it, and in spite of his generosity of mind, he is not free from the special prejudices of the shabby-genteel.” Also p. 75: “However much Dickens may admire the working classes, he does not with to resemble them.”
- Dickens has a one-track-mind view of criminals. This is illustrated through Pip’s reaction upon realizing that his benefactor Magwitch is a convict (pp. 73-74). I believe Dickens’ pieces describing Inspector Fields also shows that he sees little chance of reform in criminals.
- Dickens compares social problems against a utopian version of society in his mind, and offers no concrete solutions. p. 80: “What Dickens seems to be doing, as usual, is reaching out for an idealised version of the existing thing.”
- Along the same line, Dickens is a moralist. p. 101: “That is the difference between being a moralist and a politician. He has no constructive suggestions, not even a clear grasp of the nature of the society he is attacking, only an emotional perception that something is wrong.”
RUDYARD KIPLING
1942
Given George Orwell’s background, he is one of those people who is as un-snobbish in his role as “white man from a colonial power country” as he could be. Orwell has no illusions about the evil of colonialism and imperialism. Yet he has a sort of approval towards Kipling, who, though an imperialist at heart, is nonetheless consistent. In a way, Orwell defends Kipling against leftist attacks.
- To Orwell, Kipling is not like the leftists (anti-imperialists) who would be “making mock of uniforms that guard you while you sleep.” The quote is from Kipling’s poem Tommy.
- p. 120: “All left-wing parties in the highly industrialised countries are at bottom a sham, because they make it their business to fight against something which they do not really wish to destroy.” And regarding Kipling: “He sees clearly that men can only be highly civilised while other men, inevitably less civilised, are there to guard and feed them.”
- Orwell’s assessment of Kipling as a writer:
p. 131: “One reason for Kipling’s power as a good bad poet I have already suggested—his sense of responsibility, which made it possible for him to have a world-view, even though it happened to be a false one.”
Tommy
(Since we studied this Kipling poem along with Dickens’ essay on him, I thought I’d take some notes from it too.)
- Tommy is what a soldier is called derogatively, derived from “Thomas Atkins,” a typical name for a soldier in the British Army.
- The background: during this time, Britain is at the height of its imperial power, colonizing so many nations that “the sun never sets on the British Empire.”
- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) is a full imperialist in his worldview. He basically believes that Orientals (non-Westerners) are “fundamentally irrational,” unable to modernized themselves, and therefore need help from “civilized” countries such as Great Britain to help them along.
- The main point of “Tommy” is that during this time when leftists start to question the morality of imperialism, soldiers continue to fight overseas and “protect” English citizens. Kipling points out the irony of honoring the soldier (thanks for protecting us) while belittling them at the same time.
- Quote: “For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ ‘Chuck him out, the brute!’/ But it’s ‘Saviour of ‘is country’ when the guns begin to shoot.”
1903-1950
George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair in Motihari, India, on June 25, 1903. He died in London, England on January 21, 1950.
He went to school in Eton. After graduation, he joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma (1922). This would be about the time when he wrote "Shooting An Elephant," which takes place in Lower Burma.
Orwell is known for a variety of his writings: essays, political criticisms, novels (Animal Farm and 1984), and documentaries.
He worked for the BBC Eastern Service during World War II.
The notes in this entry are for Quiz #1! I'm posting them here just for consistency's sake. See my next post for the Orwell essays which we'll be tested on for the Nov. 17 quiz.
POLITICIS AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
1950
Orwell’s purpose for the essay is two-pronged: 1) to decry the decay of the English language, 2) to link the decay of English with political authoritarianism.
Regarding point #1, his recommendation is basically: use simple language. If there’s a way to state something in either one word or 10, use one. Avoid jargons, don’t use trite metaphors, etc. Page 170 has his list of grammar rules if you’re interested.
Point #2 grows out of point #1. He blames politicians for using obtuse language. He accuses them for not really knowing what they are saying (and for those who do, not wanting their audience to understand what’s being said). Politicians use vague language to sound intelligent. Power is contained by maintaining the image that “commoners” are not smart enough to understand politics (thus not qualified to run for office).
In short: those in authority abuse the English language.
Quotes:
p. 163 – Ecclesiastes paraphrase. Prof. Schroth read this out loud in class: “objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.”
p. 167 – “When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink.”
p. 171 – “Political language – and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists – is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”
Anything that sounds similar along the line of the above quotes would be possibilities.
ORWELL ON DICKENS
1940
This is one essay I find it hard for Schroth to pull a quote from: practically every other line mentions the name “Dickens,” which would give the answer away. But regardless...
This is Orwell’s analysis of Dickens and his works. Orwell fully acknowledges Dickens’ writing skills, deserved popularity, etc., but he is also critical. He practically goes through all of Dickens’ works. In doing so, he sticks to a few criticisms:
- Dickens writes sensitively about the poor, but ultimately he writes from an upper class perspective. p. 72: “Dickens had grown up near enough to poverty to be terrified of it, and in spite of his generosity of mind, he is not free from the special prejudices of the shabby-genteel.” Also p. 75: “However much Dickens may admire the working classes, he does not with to resemble them.”
- Dickens has a one-track-mind view of criminals. This is illustrated through Pip’s reaction upon realizing that his benefactor Magwitch is a convict (pp. 73-74). I believe Dickens’ pieces describing Inspector Fields also shows that he sees little chance of reform in criminals.
- Dickens compares social problems against a utopian version of society in his mind, and offers no concrete solutions. p. 80: “What Dickens seems to be doing, as usual, is reaching out for an idealised version of the existing thing.”
- Along the same line, Dickens is a moralist. p. 101: “That is the difference between being a moralist and a politician. He has no constructive suggestions, not even a clear grasp of the nature of the society he is attacking, only an emotional perception that something is wrong.”
RUDYARD KIPLING
1942
Given George Orwell’s background, he is one of those people who is as un-snobbish in his role as “white man from a colonial power country” as he could be. Orwell has no illusions about the evil of colonialism and imperialism. Yet he has a sort of approval towards Kipling, who, though an imperialist at heart, is nonetheless consistent. In a way, Orwell defends Kipling against leftist attacks.
- To Orwell, Kipling is not like the leftists (anti-imperialists) who would be “making mock of uniforms that guard you while you sleep.” The quote is from Kipling’s poem Tommy.
- p. 120: “All left-wing parties in the highly industrialised countries are at bottom a sham, because they make it their business to fight against something which they do not really wish to destroy.” And regarding Kipling: “He sees clearly that men can only be highly civilised while other men, inevitably less civilised, are there to guard and feed them.”
- Orwell’s assessment of Kipling as a writer:
p. 131: “One reason for Kipling’s power as a good bad poet I have already suggested—his sense of responsibility, which made it possible for him to have a world-view, even though it happened to be a false one.”
Tommy
(Since we studied this Kipling poem along with Dickens’ essay on him, I thought I’d take some notes from it too.)
- Tommy is what a soldier is called derogatively, derived from “Thomas Atkins,” a typical name for a soldier in the British Army.
- The background: during this time, Britain is at the height of its imperial power, colonizing so many nations that “the sun never sets on the British Empire.”
- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) is a full imperialist in his worldview. He basically believes that Orientals (non-Westerners) are “fundamentally irrational,” unable to modernized themselves, and therefore need help from “civilized” countries such as Great Britain to help them along.
- The main point of “Tommy” is that during this time when leftists start to question the morality of imperialism, soldiers continue to fight overseas and “protect” English citizens. Kipling points out the irony of honoring the soldier (thanks for protecting us) while belittling them at the same time.
- Quote: “For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ ‘Chuck him out, the brute!’/ But it’s ‘Saviour of ‘is country’ when the guns begin to shoot.”
