“Politicians Deceiving the People”
Modern language is, “ugly and inaccurate”, as George Orwell describes it in Politics and the English Language (510). George Orwell’s Politics in the English Language informs readers of this trend. Orwell uses the following quote to raise questions about where this problem may have first started occurring: “It is clear that the decline of language must have political and economic causes: it is not due simply to bad influence of this or that individual writer” (510). Written language has suffered a decline in the manner in which it is presented due to economic and political factors that Orwell noticed during his lifetime. Orwell’s discussion on economics and politics makes us think about what conditions lead
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Orwell describes political written language by the following sentence: “As soon as certain topics are raised the concrete melts into abstract and no one seems able to think of turns of speech that are not hackneyed: prose consists less and less of words chosen for the sake of their meaning, and more and more phrases tacked together like the sections of a prefabricated house” (Orwell 512). The combination of previously overused phrases and big words translates into the “prefabricate henhouse” (Orwell 512). The hen house looks nice from a distance as does the writing with all of the large words, but when you get closer you realize that the henhouse is made of cheap plastic, …show more content…
Orwell presents that the word fascism now only signifies something not desired (Orwell 514). Fascists aren’t dangerous however. You aren’t going to have a conversation with a fascist for hours upon end, and then after finding out he is a fascist flee in fear. Fascisms definition has been obscured by the hand of politicians. They did this through the process of presenting speech after are given to patriotic crowds, and claiming that fascist wanted to harm your family. These speeches get the crowd so excited that eventually everyone is saying that fascist are bad, and needed to be hunted down. When in fact fascism is just a political system in which the government tries to put the well-being of the country over the well-being of individuals by having a dictator. Politicians contortion of these words, over time, often leads to adverse side effects. The translation of fascism along with many other words has created a lack of tolerance to foreign ideas and cultures. We don’t tolerate fascists just because we think it is something bad. The problem presented with the translation of fascism to an alternate definition has also occurred in modern day with the meaning of the word Islam. Islam is a religion, but if you go and ask any panel of average day Americans you will probably get that Islam means terrorist.
Diction: While George Orwell used fairly simple and uncomplicated diction to tell the story many of his words still have a very powerful diction. In the first chapter the protagonist Winston is attack by the smell of “boiled cabbage and old rag mats”. This is the first indication to the nature of the living conditions of our protagonist. However, Orwell also uses his diction to create the atmosphere of Oceania with lines like “the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no colour in anything”. These lines contain powerful words like cold, torn, and harsh and these worlds help paint the picture of what kind of story we are reading.
To understand why Fascism gained such popularity after WWI, it is essential to find a working definition of what Fascism actually is. According to Benito Mussolini and his document What is Fascism, Fascism is “the conception of the state, its character, its duty, and its aim.” It is concerned primarily and totally with the affairs of state rather than those of the individual. The chief duty of a man in a Fascist nation is to do what he can to elevate the state to higher power or assist the state in whatever means necessary in its goals. As is evident to anyone studying this period in history, Fascism “repudiates the doctrine of Pacifism…” meaning that it is most certainly not afraid to use force or war to accomplish its objectives. A Fascist, especially a male Fascist, aspires to be a hero to his country and an ally to the state or nation of which he is a part. A woman ...
Many people can relate to receiving an essay paper back in which they believe that the grading is unfair. Grammatical errors, style, and subject are areas that receive the most attention. However, it may not be the writers’ work that is ineffective, maybe it 's the English language itself that is lacking in quality. Similarly, George Orwell in " Politics and the English Language" convinces the audience that the causes of the decline in the English language are the vagueness and meaningless of prose that is receiving impact from political jargon. Orwell effectively persuades the readers by addressing opposing views, providing examples that offer support to sub-claims, and creating reader connections while simultaneously
Orwell’s article on the English language is on point because it defines how people have become lazy in how they communicate with each other. This type of “slovenliness” is part of the problem in terms of why the English language is often misused by the speaker: “The slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts” (Orwell para.2). Due to the speaker’s laziness, the language becomes confused, and the person begins having “foolish thoughts” that do not have very good accuracy. This mental process is one way that Orwell defines the importance of language as a tool for clarity of thought, which is important when conveying a message to another person or group of people. Certainly, this is an
In the essay “From Ancient Greece to Iraq, the Power of Words in Wartime” by Robin Tolmach Lakoff, Lakoff discusses the fact that words are a tool as well when it comes to wars. She talks about the differences between our natural want and ability to kill things, and the mental training soldiers receive to make it easier for them. Lakoff talks about the practice of dehumanizing the “enemy” through nicknames that make us feel superior then our foes, and the repercussions of using this type of language. In the essay by George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”, Orwell talks about the decay of the English language, especially in political writings. He discusses the fact that when it comes to writing, political being the main focus, it’s
Despite the warnings of Orwell through both his essay and dystopian novel, bad English is still used today, and could be argued to affect more English than it did during Orwell’s life. The consequences are also just as he predicted, those who control the language are able to wield control over the thoughts of others. The usage of poor quality English by media has he effect of making the recipients of news more detached from events and as a consequence, more self-focused. The clumsiness and foolishness imposed by bad English ultimately degrading thought, politics, culture, and society is what Orwell had foretold. This is the English tragedy that is disregarded, modern thoughts of “English” are not of language but of the English Queen.
Fascism is one type of political system based on the notion that some races are superior to others. Something that seems ridiculous in to enlightened modern day thinkers, which unfortunately makes it all the more difficult to try and understand for someone who has not experienced it. However by looking through history and taking into account some of the results of practised fascism, we can maybe begin to understand why so many people took up, and are still taking up fascism. Hopefully then we can understand exactly what we should learn from it, and possibly understand how we can prevent it appearing on the scale it did in the Second World War.
One of the most essential ways in which feelings are expressed by humans is through language. Without language people are merely robotic figures that can not express their thoughts because language is in fact thought. When this speech is taken away through complete governmental power, a portion of human nature is also taken away. In 1984, due to totalitarianism, language has begun to transform into a poor representation of humanity and natural human expression. Orwell states, “But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” In the novel, a new language, Newspeak, has emerged. Newspeak has drastically limited the vocabulary of the English language
By writing the setting in this way, Orwell causes the reader to subconsciously associate the world of 1984, totalitarianism, The Party, and Big Brother with negativity; they begin to see Winston as a victim of the regime. Another excellent example of this is the way that Orwell describes the standard lunch issue. Orwell writes, “Onto each was swiftly dumped the regulation lunch – metal pannikin of pinkish-gray stew, a hunk of bread, a cube of cheese, a mug of milkless Victory Coffee, and one saccharine tablet.” (1948) The most poignant description is obviously that of the stew, but describing the bread as a hunk and noting the lack of milk in the coffee helps to get his point across further.
Mainly in political writing and speech, Orwell believes that politicians are able to defend their actions only by arbitrary arguments. The examples he provides include the British rule in India, the Russian purges and deportations, and the dropping of the atomic bombs of Japan. Through these examples, it is shown that the use of language was used to persuade the nation to carry out the decisions. A person had to be able to present this idea to the public, but presented it in a way that would persuade the people into taking his or her side on the aforementioned decisions. Orwell states, “The inflated style is itself a kind of euphemism. A mass of Latin words falls upon the facts like soft snow, blurring the outlines and covering up all the details. The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink” (320). Orwell shows that the use of language should be direct and to the point, however, most people use sophisticated words to hide the meaning of what they are trying to say. He believes that language is only as powerful as the person is, original. The more original the language is, the more likely the audience is willing to listen. Orwell also believes that
George Orwell’s book nineteen eighty-four was an opportunity to warn society about the dangers of control and where we as the future could be heading. This warning is about allowing the media to gain control of what is reality. In the novel Orwell uses literary devices, such as irony, paradox, and allusions. He introduces new linguistic concepts; doublespeak and newspeak. Implements propaganda techniques to suppress free thought and action. The most commonly known used by Party Members is doublespeak, to distort or obscure the actual meaning of words, embodies irony.
Throughout history deception has been one key factor into killing democracies. For example, in 1984 a book written by George Orwell describes what the world would be like if people lived without democracy and what kills democracy. In 1984 deception has blinded the people of Oceania to the truth. As people live in fear and deception their minds start to believe it's true. The deception being the propaganda, hate rallies, and forced beliefs that Big Brother is right in what they are doing. Another example would be social media today. This is one of the greatest examples of the truth being lost in the purpose of views and likes. While all choices involve costs in a democracy, the main cause to the corruption of democracy is the truth is expendable
Birk and Birk explore the many processes that automatically and often unintentionally, take place during the gathering of knowledge and expression through words. In their book Birk and Birk break the usage of words into sections: Selection, Slanting by the use of emphasis, slanting by selection of facts, and slanting by the use of charged words. When words are used this way they reveal naturally occurring bias of the writer. Upon reviewing the selection from Birk and Birk’s book Understanding and Using Language it is clear that the essay written by Jake Jameson has examples of every principal Birk and Birk discuss. The Birk and Birk selection provides us with a set of tools that enable us to detect bias in the many forms that it takes. These tools reveal what Jamieson favors and make plain the bias present in his essay The English-Only movement: Can America Proscribe Language With a Clean Conscience?
Orwell, George. “Politics and the English Language.” George Orwell: Critical Essays. London: Harvill Secker: 2009. 270-286. Print.
George Orwell’s essay, Politics and the English Language, first published in 1946, talks about some “bad habits”, which have driven the English language in the wrong direction, that is, away from communicating ideas. In his essay he quotes five passages, each from a different author, which embody the faults he is talking about. He lists dying metaphors, operators, pretentious diction, and meaningless words as things to look out for in your own writing and the writing of others (593-595). He talks about political uses of the English language. Our language has become ugly and the ugliness impedes upon communication. Ugly uses of language have been reinforced and passed down in the population “even among people who should and do know better,” (598). Ugly language has been gaining ground in our population by a positive feedback mechanism.