Politics and the English Language: An Essay

'The emotional urges which are inescapable, and are perhaps even necessary to political action, should be able to exist side by side with an acceptance of reality.'




'Politics and the English Language' is widely considered one of Orwell's most important essays.




Within this essay, Orwell criticises the 'ugly and inaccurate' written English of his time and examines the connection between political orthodoxies and the debasement of language. The essay focuses on political language, which, according to Orwell, 'is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.' Bad English, he believed, was a vehicle for oppressive ideology.




Written as it was just after World War II, 'Politics and the English Language' provides a stark warning of how important language is to our everyday lives.