preview

Analysis Of George Orwell's Politics And The English Language

Decent Essays

Political press can play such crucial role in the viewpoints of citizens; with an impact like this, it is essential to have explicit information. George Orwell’s 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language” he argues that Politicians have manipulated the English language, thus making their points euphemistic. He explains that these that, “...it is broadly true that political writing is bad writing” and results to a politician being “unconscious of what he is saying” (Orwell). Even though this essay was written in 1946, Orwell’s six basic rules are still broken. For instance, Donald Trump’s immigration speech is prime example of what Orwell would conclude as “nonsense”. The speech breaks the elementary rules by using unfamiliar phrases, …show more content…

Orwell does not agree with this technique; he strongly emphasizes to “Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print” (Orwell). Trump incorporates the phrase, “I always say Trojan horse”(Trump). The politician uses this metaphor to adapt to his opinion on immigrants; however, Orwell includes the key idea that, “A newly invented metaphor assists thought by evoking a visual image, while on the other hand a metaphor which is technically ‘dead’” (Orwell). Metaphors have been constantly twisted to aid a concept that the speaker or writer is trying to make clear. This leads to the politician, “ inventing phrases for themselves”(Orwell). Another metaphor Trump presents in his speech is “We’re like the big bully that keeps getting beat up” (Trump). This metaphor is a key example of what Orwell would deduce as “pieces of clumsiness”. Adding in metaphors can save effort, yet only benefits the speaker and not the listener. Behind this twisted phrasing, it makes the Politician look like he is not initially interested in what he is saying. Orwell stresses strongly, that metaphors are used to created imagery but in this case it causes

Get Access