An analysis of George Orwells Politics and the English Language
My focus is upon a piece by Niccolo Machiavelli, an Italian prince from the renaissance period who writes "The Morals of a Prince", and in an opposite vein, an essay by George Orwell, an English author and enemy of totalitarianism whose essay is "Politics and the English Language". Within these essays I have found a similarity in which Orwell illustrates that 'political writing becomes the defense of the indefensible, most political writing is bad, where it is not the author is usually a rebel who expresses his private opinions'. While this could be true of Machiavelli's piece, he himself contends that 'men who embrace the ideal, while rejecting the real, will only accomplish their ruin'Machiavelli wishes to convince other statesmen of the necessary vices that a prince must possess to rule a kingdom. A bold stance is taken for the sake of reality "...Better to go after the real truth of the matter than ....what people have imagined". He offers rationalizations for why a prince cannot be good, and at the same time, reign effectively. Vice is a condition of humanity, a prince must therefore be cunning, miserly, feared, and dishonest to prevent himself, and his post, from being victimized. Manipulation is key lest friend o
He contends that 'political writing is done in modern English prose and through the misuse of archaic metaphors, showing incompetence and vagueness, further revealing the author's lack of interest in what he is expressing. The latter is especially true in regard to soldiers during times of war; respect for their leader intensifies performance. I could deduce that Orwell was closely correct in assuming, 'political speech and writing can indeed be used, as the defense of the indefensible', for Machiavelli certainly uses ornate writing to add credence to his theories. He points out that insincerity corrupts clear language, arguing that 'if thought can ruin language, language can in turn ruin thought'. ' Machiavelli argues "To preserve the state, he often has to do things against his word, against charity, against humanity, against religion". Most of speech, or writing, is colored to some extent to aide politicians in the support of current issues. 'A prince must also be sly like a fox and wary of traps for he cannot defend himself against wolves. Even as he writes of the vices that princes' must possess, he wishes to convince us that his essay is quite frank and therefore moral because of it. I must add that I do not agree with "Morals" because corruption is necessary to rule. Political authors often rely upon "Ready made phrases" 'which construct sentences and imitate real thought processes. Misuse of Greek and Latin root words while adding "ize-formation" takes the place of the author's inability to find appropriate words to convey meaning. Some aspects of the human condition appear to be ageless. Consequently Orwell draws a connection between the misuse of the English language and politics, suggesting that it's used as a tool to reword, alter, and deform its purest meaning, while confusing others into accepting defensive reaction and BAD politics.
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