George Orwell's Motives For Writing Gone Awry

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George Orwell’s Motives for Writing Gone Awry It is an unequivocal fact that George Orwell was a brilliant writer. Through various works he earned his acclaim, publishing an extensive number of pieces that demonstrate his ability to captivate readers and immerse them in his detailed experiences. In “Why I Write”, Orwell explored the motives behind his own writing and inspiration; his exigent need for expression, need for justice, need for clarification. With his expository prose, he intended to reveal injustices and do so as precisely as possible. The insight given from his essay can be clearly translated to his other compositions, “Shooting an Elephant” and “A Hanging”, in which his motivations and personal opinions are apparent.…show more content…
He blatantly declared imperialism to be “evil” and expressed his distaste for his own job. Through the situation he was in, Orwell was able to present an inside perspective of his operations and paint the Europeans negatively. First hand he was able to see the inner structure and “dirty work of Empire at close quarters”, which would make him a reliable source for understanding the hidden cruelties of British Imperialism. However, Orwell, being a young individual at the time, takes a reasonably impartial stance. Negatively speaking of Imperialism gives the aura of distaste towards the Europeans, but on the other hand, he regards the Burmese people with little value as well, derogatorily referring to them as “coolies”. Therefore, while Orwell had intended to disparage and portray one group to be distinctly wrong, he did not stay true to his virtue by deprecating trivializing both…show more content…
This method is highly effective and increases the perceived severity of the situation. His ability to illustrate the setting of “condemned men” with “vague liquid eyes” intensifies the atmosphere. The negative connotation in the passage brings the reader to the logical conclusion that the events taking place in the narrative are not just or moral, yet as an individual working for this system, Orwell shows disparity. His sudden realization leading up to the execution brings him to grasp the idea of “destroy[ing] a healthy, conscious man.” Although he understands the intense, irreversible and wrong circumstance of the execution, he does nothing to try to stop it from happening. Moreover, Orwell exposes this wrongdoing in writing as a way to bring justice. This idea can be seen as hypocritical because he is writing about the misjustice, but even though he realized it there and then, he didn’t do anything to stop it, lacking the follow through and real

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