george orwell politics and the english language

Orwell thinks that mindless and actively deceptive language can be identified and resisted through ridicule, and, most of all, through a diligent commitment to honest representation. It does however, take diligent, conscious effort on the part of the political writer or speaker. It’s thus possible to manipulate that tool. He returns to the claim that he opens with: that language is a tool, and not a natural evolutionary growth. But this doesn’t make the resistance against it futile. He says that in an atmosphere of “terrible politics” (such as the period in which he’s writing), corrupted language is almost inevitable. Orwell sees the use of honest language as political act in itself, a form of resistance against insidious and widespread manipulations of rhetorical structures. In this way, abstract language becomes a means for political writers to “justify unjustifiables.” He presents a list of tools that can be used to resist dishonest language. Orwell demonstrates the deceptive effect of various political terms, showing how elevated, complex and abstract language actively disguises ugly and violent concrete realities. Independent thinking is necessary for a healthy political life.Īs corrupted language smothers independent, original thinking, it thus serves a political purpose.

By using set phrases, they pantomime ideology without thinking. In this way, political writers end up following a party line. When a person becomes lazy they allow their language to think for them. The list includes unoriginal or mixed metaphors, pretentious diction, and abstract or meaningless language. He presents a list of corrupting habits that cause writers to think poorly and thus write poorly. As Orwell will show, language can also manipulate those who use it unconsciously.

As an instrument, language can be manipulated for various purposes. This disempowering idea, he says, derives from an understanding of language as a “natural growth” rather than an “instrument which we shape for our own purposes” (251). George Orwell’s essay “ Politics and the English Language,” begins by refuting common presumptions that hold that the decline of the English language is a reflection of the state of society and politics, that this degeneration is inevitable, and that it’s hopeless to resist it.

George orwell politics and the english language