George Orwell Essay
George Orwell EssayGeorge Orwell Essay
The English language, “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.” (491). This quote from “Politics and the English Language” published in 1946, expresses how the author, George Orwell, feels toward the English language. He explains how it is hard to write well if the language itself is not proficient. However, with our “fight against bad English” (491) Orwell presents us with six rules to guide us through good writing, and make it something worth reading in hope that we could somehow reverse the process of the declining of the English language.
A metaphor, a popular way to evoke a visual images; overused, worn-out, and powerless. People tend to get lazy so they use metaphors they have repeatedly seen before, rather than taking time to create new ones. Orwell explains “incompatible metaphors are frequently mixed, a sure sign that the writer is not interested in what he is saying.” (494) You’re writing is now questioned for what you have just wrote, is not truly your writing. Orwell would have commented that my writing was as a mirror image of hundreds of writings for I use metaphors frequently.
Longer is not always better, Orwell suggests “Never use a long word where a short one will do.” (504) Orwell considers large, incomprehensible words to be meaningless, and writers should not attempt to use the word to express themselves if they don’t know the real meaning or how to use the word. What is the point of using long words if you can’t get your point across to the reader because you misused the word? Although I don’t often use large words, I still try once in while, and Orwell would criticize my lack of knowledge when it came to vocabulary. “What is above all needed is to let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way about.” (503)
Babbling, Orwell says, “If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.” (504) Don’t waste your time babbling, writes something with meaning, life, and something fresh. Tighten your writing, cut out words that can be replaced with one more meaningful and suitable word. Orwell would definitely be able to tell that is was my weak spot, I have a tendency to babble. I don’t know when to stop or how to make lines shorter.
Candy coating a simple statement with foreign words, to appear intelligent, is a sure sign of a bad writer. Orwell recommends “Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific work or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.” (504) These writings can be easily found by many political and sociological writers. They tend to uses this style of bad writing in order to trick the reader, however “…no real need for any of the hundreds of foreign phrases now current in English.” (495) Again, writers become lazy and unfocused on their writing, and believe it is easier to make up words of foreign works rather then thinking up the English words on their own. As a result of not knowing the true meaning of the words they use and how to use them, bad writing is produced. My knowledge of foreign works is at a minimum, and I would not know which would give Orwell nothing to criticize.
Orwell’s last rule is “Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.” (504) Orwell is saying that as a writer you must make sure the reader understands the message you are trying to send them. “That is, the person who uses them has his own private definition, but allows his hearer to think he means something quite different.” (497) By following Orwell’s rules you should be able to send you message across to the reader.
Writing is an art; it takes patience, work, and dedication. Orwell thoughts on writing “…language as an instrument for expressing and not for concealing or preventing thought.” (504) Using Orwell’s six rules, hopefully the English language will slowly improve. “I said earlier that the decadence of our language is probably curable.” (502)
Works Cited
1. Orwell, George. “Politics and the English Language”.