politics and english language by george orwell summary

His last point is especially relevant as he will also be going after the way that vague and abstract language distances itself from reality and becomes a form of dishonesty. Again, he refers to political writing, which will be his main target in the essay. The two common qualities are important to note, as is their stated cause: this lack of independent and rigorous thinking on the part of the writer is one of the main reasons for the cycle of poor speaking-poor thinking that he describes. Orwell has given a number of passages with examples of the above issues. As soon as certain topics are raised, the concrete melts into the abstract. This mixture of vagueness and sheer incompetence is the most marked characteristic of modern English prose, and especially of any kind of political writing. The writer either has a meaning and cannot express it, or he inadvertently says something else, or he is almost indifferent as to whether his words mean anything or not. The first is staleness of imagery: the other is lack of precision. The consequence of the struggle for better language, he states here, is of worldly consequence.Įach of these passages has faults of its own, but, quite apart from avoidable ugliness, two qualities are common to all of them. It's relevant to emphasize that he makes the political claim at the opening of the essay, as this point gets put to the side as he begins his analysis. If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step towards political regeneration. As he will later claim that everything now is political, his essay is a call to action, to a resistance to the degenerative effects of poor and inaccurate uses of language. Orwell isn't presenting an inconsequential critique of English language in his essay. But as with the cycle of the drunk, the cycle of poor thinking-poor speaking can be broken. Poor use of language leads to lazy, unoriginal thinking which in turn makes for even more misleading language language. This is the central argument of the essay. The point is that the process is reversible. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language.

A man may take a drink because he feels himself to be a failure and then fail all the more completely because he drinks.

Politics and english language by george orwell summary