orwell politics and the english language

Orwell’s problem received many responses as scholars and authors continue to debate over its significance. The last rule serves as a loophole to all the other ones, stating that an author should break all rules not to sound “outright barbarous” (Orwell). Moreover, the author argues that all unnecessary words should be cut out whenever possible.

Other rules forbid the use of long words instead of short ones, passive structures where one can use active ones, and foreign phrases, scientific terms, and professionalisms instead of their English equivalents. These rules sound definitive as five out of six of them use such words as “never” and “always.” For instance, the first rule states that one should “never use a metaphor, simile, or another figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print” (Orwell). Nevertheless, the writer mostly focuses on the political use of language, stating that one can manipulate the audience through complicated wording and structure.Īfter analyzing several sentences and outlining the main flaws that plague the written language, Orwell suggests six rules which one can follow to write, concisely, and sincerely. For instance, he briefly mentions scientific papers, while criticizing the use of Latin and Greek words.

Although he mostly focuses on political language, it is clear that Orwell wants to affect other types of writing as well. In this case, the examples of bad writing all possess the same qualities, which the author deems to be unacceptable to use. Moreover, the writer insists that contemporary political language is structured in a way that confuses the reader and hides the true meaning behind some inflated statements. Orwell believes that the written English language is full of unnecessary or outdated phrases and empty words. He points out several issues that can be resolved to stop the language from declining. In his article “Politics and the English Language,” George Orwell discusses the problems of political literature.

Orwell politics and the english language