Essay on "Orwell in "Why I Write," George"

Essay 5 pages (1573 words) Sources: 2 Style: Harvard

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Orwell

In "Why I Write," George Orwell explores the main motives for writing. Those motives Orwell summarizes as sheer egoism; aesthetic enthusiasm; historical impulse; and political purpose. The author also discusses the importance of childhood upbringing and worldview on the impulse to write. Ultimately Orwell concludes that without a sense of political purpose, even the sexiest prose can become flaccid and meaningless. The Orwell essay is delightfully straightforward, lacking utterly in pretention, and encourages the reader to contemplate creative endeavors of all types.

Best known for novels with a political bent such as Animal Farm and 1984, it seems surprising that George Orwell ever would have written anything but politically-charged prose. Yet in "Why I Write," the reader learns that Orwell started out by penning poetry when he was a child. His writing evolved from derivative poetry to what he calls "purple" prose, prose that is flowery and literary but not necessarily deeply charged with meaning.

The most powerful argument that Orwell makes in "Why I Write" is that purple prose plus political meaning makes for the best possible type of writing. Political beliefs charge a writer's brain and encourage the putting of pen to paper. Even writers who care little for flourishes of language can appreciate those who simply communicate ideas and raise awareness.

One of the primary motives for writing is not political at all, though, but highly practical and personal if not outright selfish. That motive is the desire for fame and fortune. Orwell freely admits that no writer is exempt from the desire for recognition. As Orwell puts it, "Desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered after death, to get your own back on the grown-ups who snubbed you in childhood, etc., etc. It is humbug to pretend this is not a motive, and a strong one." With an appropriately self-deprecating tone, Orwell mocks his own egoism while showing the reader that he or she is not alone. "All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery." Using sarcasm and self-deprecating humor endears the reader.

Orwell's argument is effective because of his writing style and tone, but also because of the author's personal credibility. If it were not written by a famous author, "Why I Write" might come across as being self-indulgent or meaningless. Moreover, Orwell relates stories of his experiences abroad and in direct confrontation with totalitarianism and political oppression. These encounters in Burma and beyond are what initially gave Orwell the impetus to write not just purple prose but powerful purple prose. The author also adds childhood stories to enhance the central arguments of "Why I Write."

The essay begins, "From a very early age, perhaps the age of five or six, I knew that when I grew up I should be a writer." Therefore, Orwell suggests that the desire to write is innate or even spiritual in nature. Later the author substantiates the mystical nature of the writing impetus when he says, "All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery." That mystery is the soul's longing for self-expression.

Orwell writes, "I will only say that of late years I have tried to write less picturesquely and more exactly." His credibility is enhanced by the fact that the essay "Why I Write" is written without unnecessary phrases or picturesque imagery that would detract from the central argument. When he paints a picture of his childhood, as a lonely middle child, the reader does need to hear the context in which Orwell developed his literary skills.

One of the strengths of "Why I Write" is the way Orwell describes his ongoing evolution as a writer from the time he was a child writing poems that might have been unconscious "plagiarisms" of other writers. When he was sixteen years old, Orwell discovered "the joy of mere words, i.e. The sounds and associations of words." Every writer knows the feeling of delight that comes from word crafting and spinning together phrases that sound happy to the ear. A core premise of "Why I Write" is that "I do not think one can assess a writer's motives without knowing something of his early development." Therefore, Orwell encourages his readers to contemplate their early creative development. Whether a writer or not, all readers of Orwell's essay can delve into their childhood to discover what makes a person who he or she is today. One must always remember the past and never run from it, while at the same time be willing "to discipline his temperament and avoid getting stuck at some immature stage, in some perverse mood." The balance between paying homage to the past and eliminating bad habits is a keen one, and an important one for individuals who wish to take their creative energies to another level.

All readers will also relate to Orwell's first and foremost motive for writing: "Desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered after death, to get your own back on the grown-ups who snubbed you in childhood, etc., etc." The use of the "etc., etc." At the end of this sentence is not laziness but rather, humor. Orwell is emphasizing the endless litany of egotistical motives that drive anyone to commit creative acts. I especially appreciated Orwell's mentioning of getting back at all those who once thwarted my dreams or mocked my ambitions. All children at some point receive unwarranted discouragement or criticism that, when used as a tool of motivation, can bring about great success. Orwell transforms what is overt selfishness into a natural human motive for self-assertion. Writing for selfish reasons is psychologically healthy, claims Orwell.

The second important motive for writing is aesthetic enthusiasm: the appreciation for the sounds of words and phrases that Orwell referred to earlier and which characterizes purple prose. Aesthetic enthusiasm is "Pleasure in the impact of one sound on another, in the firmness of good prose or the rhythm of a good story." It is aesthetic enthusiasm that causes a mediocre writer to become a great one: it is the motivation to re-read and re-write until each sentence, paragraph, and piece of writing is as close to perfect as it can possibly be in that moment. Of course, as Orwell suggests, no piece of writing is ever perfect. "It is bound to be a failure, every book is a failure." Orwell actually uses the word failure four times in the course of this short essay, which underscores his self-deprecating humor and heartfelt humility.

The third motive Orwell lists for being motivated to write is historical impulse, which is interpreted also as a journalistic impetus. The desire to tabulate and chronicle, write down facts and expose realities: this is the historical impulse. A writer wants to make sure that his or her version of history has been recorded, whether in impressionistic or literal terms.

Finally, Orwell discusses one of the most important motivations for writing. The political impulse is the juice that drives good writing, suggests Orwell. A political slant is also inevitable. "he opinion that art should have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude." Orwell shares a poem that he wrote, which solidified his commitment to politically charged writing. Yet Orwell admits that even he is not immune to the other three, less altruistic motives for writing. All of the motives for writing play with each other and sometimes compete for attention. In the end, what is important is the psychological transformation that takes place when a writer can do nothing else but write. "Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not… READ MORE

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