Undoubtedly, George Orwell’s ‘Why I
Write’ is extremely complicated, in terms of both genre and writing style.
Firstly, it does not belong to only one genre. While it is basically an essay,
it can be either a personal narrative or an autobiography. It even includes
several pieces of poetry. Additionally, the writing style of Orwell is exposed
in numerous different parts in the essay. Exaggeration of language and use of
metaphors are only a few of the whole. However, they coherently lead to a point
if construing them from a bigger perspective. These two components—the genre
and writing style—definitely back up the main ideas in this essay.
Closely examining this expository writing,
Orwell is primarily explaining his three main motives of writing— compulsion,
aesthetic purposes, and political purposes—by applying classification to his writing style. Firstly, that ‘Why I Write’ is
a personal narrative allows Orwell to effectively explain his compulsion.
Metaphorically, he says writing is a “horrible, exhausting struggle, like a
long bout of some painful illness”. Orwell recalls his real experiences here—“one
would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom
one can neither resist nor understand”. That he was “outraging his true nature”
when he decided not to write also serves as evidence. Orwell says that he
writes for aesthetic purposes, too. Basically, ‘Why I Write’ itself is artistic
since it includes pieces of poetry. ‘Paradise Lost’ is incorporated into the essay as an example of Orwell’s artistic
desire. “Spelling ‘hee’ for ‘he’ was an added pleasure” is how he puts his
happiness. Orwell calls such decorative words and phrases purple passages. The interesting part about this is that the term and
definition of purple passages are purple passages—repeating ‘p’, ‘w’, and ‘s’
creates a funny rhythm, an artistic beauty. A phrase like “ghastly failure” is
another example of his artistic style of language. Such exaggerations of
languages are used in ‘Burmese Days’, too, which is a novel written by Orwell. Last
but not least, Orwell’s motive for writing cannot be discussed without
political purposes. Mentioning the ‘Homage to Catalonia’, ‘The Impact of the
Spanish War’, and the era —rule of Hitler, Spanish Civil War—he lived in, he argues
that literature could no longer neglect the world. The poem ‘A happy vicar I
might have been’ reflects this belief—lies and unknown facts of the world were
his inspirations. Orwell’s experience as an Indian Imperial Police in an autobiographical
matter completely turned down his attempt to keep away from politics. He says, “Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written,
directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism.” Consequently,
such use of genre and writing style supports the idea of his three motives of
writing.
Interestingly, George Orwell insists that his
writing is not wholly based on a single motive. Like an autobiography, he recalls,
“What I have most wanted to do throughout the past ten years is to make
political writing into an art”, and this leads to the second main idea of this
essay. Orwell mentions his masterpiece ‘Animal Farm’ as an example—how he
succeeded to combine politics with art in it. Confessional style of literature,
which makes this piece a personal narrative, also contributes to the theme. “My
initial concern is to get a hearing, but I could not do the work…if it were not
also an aesthetic experience”, he confesses. Additionally, the metaphor he uses
conveys his remarkable writing style. “Good prose is like a windowpane.” What
image does a windowpane—a piece of
glass—creates? Necessarily, it must be crystal clear that light can pass
through. Then is aesthetic style alone a windowpane, a good prose? The very
last sentence implies that purple passages and decorative adjectives are
nothing without political implications. ‘Paradise Lost’ is a fine example of a
purple passage. The use of alliteration and meaningless
words makes the poem inefficient and unclear.
So he admits that a mere artistic prose is not good. Nonetheless, his wish for
it has been consistent. Furthermore, a windowpane should reflect the outside
world. Orwell recognizes this as a responsibility—“But I could not have done
otherwise...innocent men were being falsely accused.” Therefore, a desire and a
duty coexist in him. Orwell gives up neither of them by reconciling these two.
For instance, “One can write nothing readable unless…struggles to efface one’s
own personality” is Orwell resolving to keep balance. Therefore, the use of genre
and writing style backs up that George Orwell fused aesthetic and political purposes
in his writings.
‘Why I Write’ belongs to a number of genres
and includes a writing style unique to George Orwell. Individually, they are intricate.
But if interpreted as a whole, they are extremely coherent with the two main
ideas in the essay: Orwell’s three motives of writing and the balance between
political and aesthetic purposes.
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