In 2003, the New York Times wrote, “”Orwellian” itself, is the most widely used adjective derived from the name of a modern writer … It’s more common than ‘Kafkaesque,’ ‘Hemingwayesque’ and ‘Dickensian’ put together. It even noses out the rival political reproach ‘Machiavellian’, which had a 500-year head start.” We see and hear the term "Orwellian" used to describe ideas that George Orwell identified as being destructive to a free society. In much of his work, he emphasized control by propaganda, surveillance, and misinformation. A reoccurring theme in Orwell’s work is that language shapes our thoughts into a state of cognitive dissonance. This being a hypnotic state where one’s personal thoughts and beliefs are inconsistent with one’s actions.
…show more content…
“The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos” (Orwell 296). The Burmese do not have the right to protest and are tortured. Orwell tells us “..all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt” (Orwell 296). Here, he perspicuously expresses how he, himself, felt oppressed. Though they never stage a full revolt, the Burmese expressed their disgust by harassing Europeans at every opportunity presented. They tripped Orwell during a soccer game and hurled insults at him as he walked down the street. Like the chained elephant going into a “must”, the Burmese people were acting out because of their oppression. Enlightenment comes for Orwell after his dilemma of whether or not to kill the elephant. He saw the elephant as calm and peaceful and had made up his mind not to kill him. Yet, when he felt all the eyes of the Burmese on him, he realizes that it is not his free will but the will of the people that governs his actions. As the powerful authority figure, he is supposed to appear sure of himself; he had to shoot the elephant. This is when he understands the real motives for the way imperialist governments act; "I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind” (Orwell 299). He realizes that by enforcing the rule, he had lost his freedom to think for himself. After the shooting, we are told how the older European men said he had legally done the right thing and the younger men said it was a “damn shame” (Orwell 302) that a valuable elephant had to be shot because it had killed “a coolie”(Orwell 302). These words seem to show how far removed these men were from the situation and illustrates how when we are detached at a distance, we can rationalize barbaric behavior done to other human beings, justify
“The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos” (Orwell 296). The Burmese do not have the right to protest and are tortured. Orwell tells us “..all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt” (Orwell 296). Here, he perspicuously expresses how he, himself, felt oppressed. Though they never stage a full revolt, the Burmese expressed their disgust by harassing Europeans at every opportunity presented. They tripped Orwell during a soccer game and hurled insults at him as he walked down the street. Like the chained elephant going into a “must”, the Burmese people were acting out because of their oppression. Enlightenment comes for Orwell after his dilemma of whether or not to kill the elephant. He saw the elephant as calm and peaceful and had made up his mind not to kill him. Yet, when he felt all the eyes of the Burmese on him, he realizes that it is not his free will but the will of the people that governs his actions. As the powerful authority figure, he is supposed to appear sure of himself; he had to shoot the elephant. This is when he understands the real motives for the way imperialist governments act; "I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind” (Orwell 299). He realizes that by enforcing the rule, he had lost his freedom to think for himself. After the shooting, we are told how the older European men said he had legally done the right thing and the younger men said it was a “damn shame” (Orwell 302) that a valuable elephant had to be shot because it had killed “a coolie”(Orwell 302). These words seem to show how far removed these men were from the situation and illustrates how when we are detached at a distance, we can rationalize barbaric behavior done to other human beings, justify