In attempting to
write something intelligent and legible about George Orwell's use of satire in
writing, I have found it best to draw from the mans own words. In his essay “Why I Write” Mr. Orwell or Eric
Blair (his true name) attempts to explain the drive behind his work. He describes that there are four major
reasons any serious writer practices their craft.
“I think there
are four great motives for writing, at any rate for writing prose. They exist in different degrees in every
writer, and in any one writer the proportions will vary from time to time,
according to the atmosphere in which he is living” ONEF, p 141
These four great
motives as he sees them are “Sheer egoism”, “Aesthetic enthusiasm”, Historical
impulse”, and “Political purpose”. He
goes on to describe all four, I will endeavor to hit the high lights for you.
“Sheer egoism” as
Mr. Orwell calls it, is to try and be clever, to set oneself apart from, and
gain the attention of the crowd. To
build yourself a legacy for after death, and to get back at the adults who
ignored you in your childhood.
“Serious
writers”, I should say, are on the whole more vain and self-centered than journalists,
though less interested in money” ONEF, p l14
“Aesthetic
enthusiasm” implies the love and beauty of the craft in all its forms. “Historical impulse” is the desire to save
the events of our life and times for posterity.
“Political purposes”, he considers the word political to be used in its
widest possible sense. Possibly the most
egotistical of all the motives, the political one wants to change and direct
the world towards the writers own beliefs.
It is for
political purposes which Mr. Orwell did most of his writing. This does not mean however, that Mr. Orwell
planed or started his writing career with this in mind. This was not the case.
“In a peaceful
age I might have written ornate or merely descriptive books, and might have remained
almost unaware of my political loyalties.”
ONEF, p 142
I think this
quote speaks volumes about Mr. Orwell.
Although, it can't be proven one way or the other, it does tell us that
Mr. Orwell believed and in the beginning of his writing career desired only to
write descriptive books.
Mr. Orwell spent
five years on the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, a profession he credits with
giving him his first understandings of Imperialism. Then as he puts it “I underwent poverty”. His
poverty gave him a sense of the working class.
A people and a cause he would both fight for and be highly critical of
in his later work. Like everyone else in
Europe, during his time, Mr. Orwell was also forced to witness Hitler, Stalin,
and the Spanish Civil War. The later he
fought in, on the loyalist side. He
became a socialist who criticized Communism and Imperial Capitalism.
These are the
major circumstances that drew Mr. Orwell into the political arena. From this it's easy to see why Mr. Orwell
wrote what he did. It's also implied I
believe, how he wrote. Everything he has
written holds the theme of man Vs the state or some other variation on this.
Mr. Orwell was a man who hated violence and injustice in all it's forms. He was also a man who was forced to suffer
injustices visited on him. I believe he
did the only thing he could, turning to political satire to find justice for
himself. He used his natural instinct
for descriptive writing in order to show the world what he saw everyday.
C.
M. Woodhouse writes in his introduction to
“Animal Farm” that the book will not dramatically change the world in a decade
or two. But, in fact it may win it's
author a place among “Shelley's legislators of the world” If it does not, then he says that Mr. Orwell
may yet be immortalized as a prophet for his book “1984”. At the moment I can't see that either has
happened, and I don't believe Mr. Orwell would ever believe it could
happen. However, above what I consider
Mr. Orwell's greatest expectations he has managed a spot in history somewhere
between the two, he is a man, who gives me inspiration to write, because even a
failure can be a success.
WORKS CITED
Howe, Irving “Orwell's Nineteen Eight Four” Harcourt, Brace
and World, INC 1963
Orwell, George “Animal Farm” Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc
1946
Orwell, George “The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters
of George Orwell, Harcourt, Brace
and World, Inc. 1968
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