Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language” Response

Many may know him as the author of the books titled 1984 and Animal Farm. George Orwell, a very iconic writer still to this day, wrote an essay know as “Politics and the English Language.” In this article, he presents some very interesting points about the modern English language and the ways people use it. He argues that the population as a whole has created many bad habits through its use of the English language. Also, he argues that through the continued use of these bad habits, it leads to very a very foolish thought process. It also works the other way around according to Orwell because he believes that once our minds have been engrained with the wrong, foolish thoughts, that that is what allows us to continue to butcher the English language.

As the paper continues, Orwell presents the bad habits that he recognizes to the reader, and then goes on to give all writers, not just writers on the professional level, a set of rules to follow to hopefully eliminate the foolish thinking. Some of the advice he gives entails using short, concise language rather than long, wordy passages, and to use the active voice much more than the passive voice.

Overall, he goes on the give writers a total of six rules to follow that he believes will solve the issue. I tend to agree with Orwell that over the years we have let ourselves become okay with using incorrect English and that it truly has clouded our thoughts. I agree that we all need to step up to plate and do our best to take Orwell’s advice because his whole argument is that the foolish thinking that arises from this issue is the reason for the lousy decisions in the political arena. If we come together and can follow these rules, I believe American and its citizens can be back on their way to better lifestyles and living the way the Founding Fathers intended for Americans to live.