George Orwell: Political Convictions
Brittany Harris
History 3354 – Twentieth Century Europe
October 1, 2017
2
Through George Orwell's experiences, one thing was for certain. He did not praise totalitarianism nor communism. Nothing good comes from communism and he expressed this in "Homage to Catalonia" when he stated that it was "impossible to read through the reports in the Communist Press without realizing that they are consciously aimed at a public ignorant of the facts and have no other purpose than to work up prejudice."1 Communism wasn't the right political system, but socialism could have been. Orwell's political views were that "all political theories and ideologies except socialism
– are hopeless and disillusioning."2 By all means, Orwell wasn't trying to say that Socialists were perfect or would make the world perfect, but they could try to ultimately improve it. Throughout his experience during the Spanish War in "Homage to Catalonia", he stuck by his view of socialism as he realized the nature of Stalin's rule in Russia. After fighting against Soviet backed communists in the Spanish civil war, Orwell strengthened his beliefs and despised Soviet style communism. From this, he went to Spain and fought against fascism and joined "socialist 1 Orwell, George. Homage to Catalonia ; Down and out in Paris and London. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010. 2Koller, Robert. "George Orwell and his Political Views." May 20, 1999. Accessed October 1, 2017. http://mural.uv.es/mabela/orw pol.htm. 3 grouping who had strong utopian Socialist ideas."3 For Orwell, fighting in this Spanish civil war gave him a different perspective and realization to what Socialism and Communism stood for. The effect the war had on him was that it made his "desire to see socialism established much more actual than it had been before."4 In "Homage to Catalonia" Orwell wrote, "Socialism means a classless society, or it means nothing at all. And it was here that those few months in the militia were valuable to me."5 Socialism became valuable to him as Communism became stronger and took over under Stalin's rule. Stalin wanted to ultimately end and crush all of the parties in the left-wing that were not Communist in …show more content…
January 22, 2017. Accessed October 01, 2017. http://www.biographyonline.net/socialism-george-orwell/. 4 Orwell, George. Homage to Catalonia ; Down and out in Paris and
London. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.
5
Ibid., 112
4
same way he viewed them before he became acquainted with them on a more personal basis,"6 but there was a deeper meaning and this wasn’t his only purpose. During the 1920's the working class was split into a
Communist movement and a Socialist movement. The "organized working class was stronger and more influential than it had been,"7 even though the
Communist and Socialist parties "appealed to the same social group—the working class—they were bitter rivals."8 These experiences in Paris and
London made Orwell somewhat sympathetic to the fact that there were reasons that these people were living in poverty and one being the political system. He knew that what he had experienced was reality in a capitalist society and for there to be a change, there needed to be a stand taken.
Orwell expresses realization in a capitalist society when he states, "for perhaps ten years past I have had some grasp of the real nature of
Capitalist society... One has got to be actively a Socialist, not
Brittany Harris
History 3354 – Twentieth Century Europe
October 1, 2017
2
Through George Orwell's experiences, one thing was for certain. He did not praise totalitarianism nor communism. Nothing good comes from communism and he expressed this in "Homage to Catalonia" when he stated that it was "impossible to read through the reports in the Communist Press without realizing that they are consciously aimed at a public ignorant of the facts and have no other purpose than to work up prejudice."1 Communism wasn't the right political system, but socialism could have been. Orwell's political views were that "all political theories and ideologies except socialism
– are hopeless and disillusioning."2 By all means, Orwell wasn't trying to say that Socialists were perfect or would make the world perfect, but they could try to ultimately improve it. Throughout his experience during the Spanish War in "Homage to Catalonia", he stuck by his view of socialism as he realized the nature of Stalin's rule in Russia. After fighting against Soviet backed communists in the Spanish civil war, Orwell strengthened his beliefs and despised Soviet style communism. From this, he went to Spain and fought against fascism and joined "socialist 1 Orwell, George. Homage to Catalonia ; Down and out in Paris and London. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010. 2Koller, Robert. "George Orwell and his Political Views." May 20, 1999. Accessed October 1, 2017. http://mural.uv.es/mabela/orw pol.htm. 3 grouping who had strong utopian Socialist ideas."3 For Orwell, fighting in this Spanish civil war gave him a different perspective and realization to what Socialism and Communism stood for. The effect the war had on him was that it made his "desire to see socialism established much more actual than it had been before."4 In "Homage to Catalonia" Orwell wrote, "Socialism means a classless society, or it means nothing at all. And it was here that those few months in the militia were valuable to me."5 Socialism became valuable to him as Communism became stronger and took over under Stalin's rule. Stalin wanted to ultimately end and crush all of the parties in the left-wing that were not Communist in …show more content…
January 22, 2017. Accessed October 01, 2017. http://www.biographyonline.net/socialism-george-orwell/. 4 Orwell, George. Homage to Catalonia ; Down and out in Paris and
London. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.
5
Ibid., 112
4
same way he viewed them before he became acquainted with them on a more personal basis,"6 but there was a deeper meaning and this wasn’t his only purpose. During the 1920's the working class was split into a
Communist movement and a Socialist movement. The "organized working class was stronger and more influential than it had been,"7 even though the
Communist and Socialist parties "appealed to the same social group—the working class—they were bitter rivals."8 These experiences in Paris and
London made Orwell somewhat sympathetic to the fact that there were reasons that these people were living in poverty and one being the political system. He knew that what he had experienced was reality in a capitalist society and for there to be a change, there needed to be a stand taken.
Orwell expresses realization in a capitalist society when he states, "for perhaps ten years past I have had some grasp of the real nature of
Capitalist society... One has got to be actively a Socialist, not