The Cambridge Companion to George Orwell

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thecambridgecompanionto georgeorwell

GeorgeOrwellisregardedasthegreatestpoliticalwriterinEnglishofthetwentiethcentury.ThemassivecriticalliteratureonOrwellhasnotonlybecome extremelyspecialised,andthereforesomewhatinaccessibletothenon-scholar, butithasalsocontributedtoandevencreatedmisconceptionsabouttheman,the writer,andhisliterarylegacy.Forthesereasons,anoverviewofOrwell’swriting andinfluenceisanindispensableresource.Accordingly,this Companion serves asbothanintroductiontoOrwell’sworkandfurnishesnumerousinnovative interpretationsandfreshcriticalperspectivesonit.Throughoutthe Companion, whichincludeschaptersdedicatedtoOrwell’smajornovels, NineteenEightyFour and AnimalFarm,Orwell’sworkisplacedwithinthecontextofthepolitical andsocialclimateofthetime.HisresponsetotheDepression,Britishimperialism,Stalinism,theSecondWorldWar,andthepoliticsoftheBritishLeftare allexamined.ChaptersalsodiscussOrwell’sstatusamongintellectualsandin theliteraryacademy,andadetailedchronologyofOrwell’slifeandworkis included.

JohnRodden hastaughtattheUniversityofVirginiaandtheUniversityof TexasatAustin.HehasauthoredoreditedseveralbooksonGeorgeOrwell, including ThePoliticsofLiteraryReputation:theMakingandClaimingof ‘StGeorge’Orwell (1989), Understanding AnimalFarm inHistoricalContext (1999), ScenesfromanAfterlife:theLegacyofGeorgeOrwell (2003), GeorgeOrwellIntotheTwenty-FirstCentury (2004),and EveryIntellectual’s BigBrother:GeorgeOrwell’sLiterarySiblings (2006).

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THECAMBRIDGE COMPANIONTO

GEORGEORWELL

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CONTENTS Notesoncontributors page vii Preface x johnrodden xii Chronology xii 1 Apoliticalwriter 1 johnrossiandjohnrodden 2 Orwellandthebiographers 12 gordonbowker 3 EnglandsHisEnglands 28 jonathanrose
Thetruthsofexperience:Orwell’snonfictionofthe 1930s 43 margerysabin
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Thefictionalrealist:novelsofthe 1930s 59 michaellevenson 6 Orwell’sessaysasaliteraryexperience 76 williame.cain
‘Mycountry,rightorleft’:Orwell’spatriotism 87 johnrossi
OrwellandtheBritishLeft 100 ianwilliams v © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org
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contents 9 Orwell,anti-SemitismandtheHolocaust 112 johnnewsinger 10 Orwell,SocialismandtheColdWar 126 robertconquest 11 AnimalFarm:historyasfable 133 morrisdickstein 12 NineteenEighty-Four:contextandcontroversy 146 bernardcrick 13 Orwell,theacademyandtheintellectuals 160 neilm c laughlin 14 Orwellfortoday’sreader:anopenletter 179 johnrodden 15 GeorgeOrwell:abibliographicessay 190 erikagottlieb 16 WhyOrwellstillmatters 201 christopherhitchens Furtherreading 208 Index 211 vi © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press
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NOTESONCONTRIBUTORS

gordonbowker taughtatGoldsmith’sCollege,UniversityofLondon.Henow worksasafull-timebiographerandjournalist.Hisbooksinclude MalcolmLowry: UndertheVolcano:ACasebook (1987); MalcolmLowryRemembered (1985); PursuedbyFuries:ALifeofMalcolmLowry (1993); ThroughtheDarkLabyrinth: ABiographyofLawrenceDurrell (1996);and GeorgeOrwell [InsideGeorge Orwell intheUS](2003).Heisnowworkingonabookaboutliteraryexile.

williame.cain isProfessorofEnglishatWellesleyCollege.Heistheeditorof AHistoricalGuidetoHenryDavidThoreau (2000)and AmericanLiterature,a two-volumeanthology(2004).

robertconquest isaresearchfellowattheHooverInstitution,StanfordUniversity.Heistheauthorofsomethirty-onebooksofhistory,biography,poetry, fictionandcriticism,including TheGreatTerror,whichhasappearedinmorethan twentylanguages, TheHarvestofSorrow, ReflectionsonaRavagedCentury,and TheDragonsofExpectation

bernardcrick isProfessorEmeritusofBirkbeckCollege,UniversityofLondon. Hisprolificwritingsspanboththeacademicandthepopular,apublicintellectual intheoldsense.Hisbestknownbooksare InDefenceofPolitics (1962 andstillin print)and GeorgeOrwell:ALife (1980);andalsofourbooksofessaysincluding EssaysonPoliticsandLiterature,PoliticalThoughtsandPolemics,and Essays onCitizenship.Morerecentlyhewrote Democracy.In 2002,hewasknighted ‘forservicestocitizenshipandpoliticalstudies’afterhavingchairedtheadvisory groupthatbroughtcitizenshipintothenationalcurriculumforEngland.Hehas livedsince 1984 inEdinburgh,wherehehasbeenactiveintheScottishdevolution movement.

morrisdickstein isDistinguishedProfessorofEnglishattheGraduateCenter oftheCityUniversityofNewYork,whereheteachescoursesinliterature,filmand Americanculturalhistory.HeisaseniorfellowoftheCenterfortheHumanities,

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notesoncontributors

whichhefoundedin 1993.Hisbooksincludeastudyofthe 1960s, Gatesof Eden (1977),whichwasnominatedfortheNationalBookCriticsCircleAward incriticism; DoubleAgent:TheCriticandSociety (1992);and Leopardsinthe Temple (2002),awidelyreviewedsocialhistoryofpostwarAmericanfiction.His latestbookisacollectionofessays, AMirrorintheRoadway:Literatureandthe RealWorld (2005).HeiscompletingaculturalhistoryoftheUnitedStatesinthe 1930s.

erikagottlieb istheauthorof DystopianFictionEastandWest:Universeof TerrorandTrial (2001); TheOrwellConundrum:ACryofDespairorFaithinthe SpiritofMan? (1992);and LostAngelsofaRuinedParadise:ThemesofCosmic StrifeinRomanticTragedy (1982).Heressaysarepublishedin Contemporary LiteraryCriticism, ShakespeareanCriticism,and UtopianStudies.Gottliebhas taughtatMcGillandConcordiaUniversitiesinMontreal,atthefacultyofEnglish inBudapest’sELTEUniversity,andinTorontoatSenecaCollegeandRyerson PolytechnicUniversity.

christopherhitchens isamongthebestknownandmostcontroversialfiguresincontemporaryintellectuallife.Heisaprolificauthor,journalist,literary criticandpublicintellectualwhoisoftendescribedasa‘contrarian’.Nowliving inWashington,DC,hehasbeenacolumnistat VanityFair, TheNation, Slate andanoccasionalcontributortomanyotherpublications.Heistheauthorof GodIsNotGreat:TheCaseAgainstReligion (2007); ThomasJefferson:Author ofAmerica (2005); Love,Poverty,andWar:JourneysandEssays (2004); ALong ShortWar:ThePostponedLiberationofIraq (2003); WhyOrwellMatters (2002), amongotherbooks.

michaellevenson istheWilliamB.ChristianProfessorofEnglishattheUniversityofVirginia.Heistheauthorof AGenealogyofModernism:AStudy ofEnglishLiteraryDoctrine,1908–1922 (1984); ModernismandTheFateof Individuality:CharacterandFormintheModernEnglishNovel (1991); TheSpectacleofIntimacy:APublicLifefortheVictorianFamily (2000;co-authorKaren Chase),theforthcoming Modernism,andeditorofthe CambridgeCompanionto Modernism

neilm c laughlin teachessociologicaltheory,andworksinthebroadareaofthe sociologyofculture,knowledgeandintellectuals.Heisworkingontheconceptof the‘globalpublicintellectual’andisresearchingthesocialcontextof‘academics aspublicintellectuals’inCanadaintwoprojectsfundedbytheCanadianFederalgovernment’sSocialScienceandHumanitiesResearchCouncil(SSHRC).He haspreviouslypublishedonthesociologyofreputationsandcriticaltheoryin journalssuchas TheSociologicalQuarterly and SociologicalTheory,onthetopic ofCanadiansociologyin TheCanadianJournalofSociology and TheAmerican Sociologist andonpoliticalissuesin Dissent.

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notesoncontributors

johnnewsinger isseniorlectureratBathSpaUniversity.Heistheauthorof Orwell’sPolitics andnumerousarticlesonOrwell.Hismostrecentbookis Rebel City:Larkin,ConnollyandtheDublinLabourMovement (London:MerlinPress, 2004.)HeiscurrentlyworkingonahistoryoftheBritishEmpire.

johnrodden hastaughtattheUniversityofVirginiaandtheUniversityofTexas atAustin.HehasauthoredoreditedseveralbooksonGeorgeOrwell,including ThePoliticsofLiteraryReputation:theMakingandClaimingof‘St.George’ Orwell (1989), Understanding AnimalFarm inHistoricalContext (1999), Scenes fromanAfterlife:TheLegacyofGeorgeOrwell (2003), GeorgeOrwellIntothe Twenty-FirstCentury (withThomasCushman, 2004),and EveryIntellectual’sBig Brother:GeorgeOrwell’sLiterarySiblings (2006).

jonathanrose isProfessorofHistoryatDrewUniversity.Hisbooksinclude TheIntellectualLifeoftheBritishWorkingClasses, TheHolocaustandtheBook: DestructionandPreservation,and TheRevisedOrwell.Herecentlycoedited(with SimonEliot) ACompaniontotheHistoryoftheBook.Hewasthefounding presidentoftheSocietyfortheHistoryofAuthorship,ReadingandPublishing, andhecurrentlycoedits(withEzraGreenspan)thejournal BookHistory

johnp.rossi isaProfessorofHistoryatLaSalleUniversityinPhiladelphia.He haswrittenwidelyaboutOrwell’scareer.

margerysabin isLorraineChiuWangProfessorofEnglishatWellesleyCollege.Sheistheauthorof EnglishRomanticismandtheFrenchTradition (1976), TheDialectoftheTribe:SpeechandCommunityinModernFiction (1987),and DissentersandMavericks:WritingsaboutIndiainEnglish:1765–2000 (2002),as wellasessaysandreviewsinjournals,including Raritan, EssaysinCriticism, Prose Studies,and CollegeEnglish.Anearlierandpartialversionofheressayherewas presentedattheGeorgeOrwellCentenaryConferenceatWellesleyCollege(May, 2003),andpublishedas‘Outside/Inside:SearchingforWiganPier’,in George OrwellIntotheTwenty-FirstCentury,editedbyThomasCushmanandJohn Rodden(2004).

ianwilliams’s book Rum:ASocialandSociableHistoryoftheRealSpiritof 1776 waspublishedinAugust 2004 whichKirkusReviewscalls‘rambunctious, rollickinghistory,soddenwithtastylore’.Hispreviouswas TheDeserter:Bush’s WaronMilitaryFamilies,VeteransandHisOwnPast.Hisfirst, TheAlmsTrade, waspublishedin 1989,andhissecond, TheUNForBeginners,waspublishedin 1995.Hehaschaptersin GeorgeOrwellIntotheTwenty-FirstCentury,editedby ThomasCushmanandJohnRodden(2004), WhyKosovoMatters:TheDebate ontheLeftRevisited,editedbyDannyPostel(forthcoming), IrvingHoweandthe Critics:CelebrationsandAttacks,editedbyJohnRodden(2005),and TheIraq War,editedbyRickFawnandRaymondHinnebusch(2006).

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PREFACE

GeorgeOrwell’spublicreputationfarexceedsthatofanyotherwriterofhis generation,andindeedofanyotherpoliticalwriterofthetwentiethcentury. Sixdecadesofcommentaryabouthisworkandlife–whichhasincludedfive biographies,atleastfourdozenbook-lengthscholarlystudies,andhundreds ofliteraryessaysandscholarlyarticles–hasallbecomepartofanOrwell cottageindustrythatcontinuestochurnataphenomenalrate.Hiscentennial yearin 2003 alonewitnessedthepublicationofthreenewbiographiesaswell asatleastahalf-dozencriticalbooksanddozensofessaysandarticles.This enormoussecondaryliteraturehastakenonalifeofitsownandgonebeyond theworkofOrwelltocoveralsothephenomenonof‘Orwell’–thecultural iconandmythicfigurewhoisprobablymorequotedandreferencedthan anyothermodernwriter.

GiventheplethoraofOrwellcriticism,onecouldarguethatanothercriticalstudyofOrwellissuperfluousandunnecessary.Butthefactisthat thismassivecriticalliteraturehasnotonlybecomeextremelyspecialised, andthereforesomewhatinaccessibletothenonscholar,butithasalsocontributedtoandevencreatedmisconceptionsaboutthemanandwriterand hisliterarylegacy.

Theserealitiesmakeclearthatanoverviewcoveringthebroadrangeof Orwell’swritingandinfluencecanbeanindispensableresource.Accordingly,thisCambridgeCompanionservesasbothanintroductiontoOrwell’s workandfurnishesnumerousinnovativeinterpretationsandfreshcritical perspectivesonit.Itisdesignedtoaddressboththeneedsofageneralreader newlyacquaintedwithOrwellandtochallengethestudentorscholarof Orwellthoroughlyfamiliarwithhisworkandthecontroversiesswirling aboutit.Thediversityofcriticalperspectives–literary,cultural,political andhistorical–reflectstheextraordinaryrangeandscopeofcommentary devotedtoOrwell.Mostimportantly,theydowhatexcellentcriticalessays oughttodo,whichisindeedtofunctionasa‘companion’totheoriginal

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literarywork,wherebytheystimulatethereadertodiscover(orrediscover) theauthor’sachievementforthemselves.

Orwellpresentsspecialchallengesforaneditorwhoseekstobecomprehensive.HeisregardedasthegreatestpoliticalwriterinEnglishduringthe twentiethcentury.TheworldfameofGeorgeOrwellisduetoacombination ofhighesteemfromintellectualsandimmensepopularitywiththegeneral readingpublic.Althoughhediedattheearlyageofforty-six,hislasttwo works– AnimalFarm (1945)and NineteenEighty-Four (1949)–havesold morethanfortymillioncopiesandstandasthemostinfluentialworksof politicalfictionofthetwentiethcentury.

YetOrwellwasfarmorethananovelist;hewroteessays,reportage,opinioncolumns,bookreviewsandevenfilmreviewsandpoetry. TheComplete WorksofGeorgeOrwell comprisetwentythickvolumesinPeterDavison’s monumentaleditionpublishedbySeckerandWarburg.Inaddition,there is‘Orwell’,theculturalicon,themythicliteraryandpublicpersonality,the canonisedauthorintheschoolbooks,andtheliteraryColdWarriorwho towersoverpoliticaleventsofthepastsixdecadesandhasbecomeaculture heroforintellectualsacrosstheideologicalspectrum.Nocriticalsurveyof hiswritingsandheritagecanignorethisremarkabledevelopment.

RatherthansurveyincursoryfashionthefullrangeofOrwell’slife,work andreputation–thatis,theachievementofOrwellandthephenomenon of‘Orwell’–thechaptersinthisCambridgeCompanionaddresswhatis centraltohisworkandlegacy,withanoccasionalforayintoanunfamiliar areaofinterest.Theyconcentrateonthefictionanddocumentarywritings, buttheyalsocoverOrwell’sprosestyleandsuchtopicsandissuesofkeen interesttoreadersashisliterarystyle,hispatriotism,hispositionsonwarand pacifism,andhisanti-Communism.ThroughoutthisCompanion,Orwell’s workisalsoplacedwithinthecontextofthepoliticalandsocialclimate ofthetime.HisresponsetotheDepression,Britishimperialism,Stalinism, theSecondWorldWar,andthepoliticsoftheBritishLeftareallexamined. ThecontributorsalsodiscussOrwell’sstatusamongintellectualsandinthe literaryacademy.

Thevolumecloseswithabibliographicessaythathighlightsthekeyissues andcriticalstudiesofOrwell,anditopenswithadetailedchronologyof Orwell’slifeandwork.

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CHRONOLOGY

1903 25 June.EricArthurBlairborninMotihari,Bengal.

1904

1908–11

1911–16

IdaBlairreturnswithchildrenMarjorieandErictoEngland andsettlesatHenley-on-Thames,Oxfordshire.

Attendsday-schoolatHenleyrunbyUrsulinenuns(asdidhis twosisters,MarjorieandAvril).

BoardsatStCyprian’s,privatepreparatoryschoolatEastbourne,Sussex.

1912 RichardBlairretiresfromtheIndianCivilServiceandreturns toEngland.FamilymovestoShiplake,avillagetwomiles southofHenleyinOxfordshire(probablylateautumn).

1914 2 October.Firstappearanceinprintwithpoem,‘Awake! YoungMenofEngland’, HenleyandSouthOxfordshireStandard

1917–21

King’sScholaratEton.Contributesto TheElectionTimes and CollegeDays

1917 13 September.Fathercommissionedas 2ndLieut;postedto France,hespendseightmonths‘inthefield’,andthelastfour monthsofthewarwiththeRoyalArtilleryinMarseilles.

1922–27

ServesinIndianImperialPoliceinBurma;resignswhileon leaveinEnglandinNovember 1927,effectiveinJanuary.

1927 October.FirsttrampingexpeditionstoEastEndofLondon.

1928 Winter.TrampinginvicinityofLondon.

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1928–29 Livesinworking-classdistrictofParis;writes(anddestroys) oneortwonovels.Beginsearlydraftsof DownandOutin ParisandLondon and BurmeseDays.

1929 7–22 March.AdmittedtoH ˆ opitalCochin,Paris,aftercoughingupblood.

1930–31

Usesparents’homeinSouthwoldasbase,writingtherebut goingofftotrampandlivewithdown-and-outsinLondon.

1932–33 Teachesfull-timeatTheHawthorns,asmallprivateschoolfor boys,inHayes,Middlesex.

1933 9 January. DownandOutinParisandLondon, by‘George Orwell’,publishedbyVictorGollancz.

1933 Autumn.TeachesFrenchatFraysCollege,UxbridgeinMiddlesex.

1934 January–October.LiveswithparentsinSouthwold.Writes A Clergyman’sDaughter.

1934 25 October. BurmeseDays publishedbyHarper&Brothers, NewYork.

1934–36 October–January 1936.Part-timeassistant(withJonKimche), atBooklovers’Corner, 1 SouthEndRoad,Hampstead.

1935 11 March. AClergyman’sDaughter publishedbyGollancz.

1936 31 January–30 March.InNorthofEnglandtocollectmaterialforabookcommissionedbyGollanczonunemployment conditions.

1936 20 April.Publicationof KeeptheAspidistraFlying byGollancz.

1936 9 June.MarriesEileenO’Shaughnessyatparishchurchin Wallington,Hertfordshire.

1936 September.‘ShootinganElephant’, NewWriting

1936 November.‘BookshopMemories’, Fortnightly.

1936 Christmas.LeavestofightforRepublicansinSpanishCivil War.

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1937 January–June.ServesinIndependentLabourPartycontingentwithmilitiaofthePOUM(Workers’PartyofMarxist Unification).

1937 8 March. TheRoadtoWiganPier publishedbyGollanczin tradeandLeftBookClubeditions.

1937 28 April–10 May.OnleaveinBarcelonaduringCommunist attempttosuppressrevolutionaryparties(includingPOUM). SpiedonbyCommunistagents.

1937 20 May.ShotinthroatbyFascistsniperatHuescaandtaken successivelytohospitalsinMonflorite,SietamoandLerida, thentosanatoriumoutsideBarcelona.

1937 23 June.EscapeswithEileenfromSpainintoFrancebytrain.

1937 EarlyJuly.ArrivesbackatWallington;beginswriting Homage toCatalonia.

1938 25 April. HomagetoCatalonia, havingbeenrefusedby Gollancz,ispublishedbySecker&Warburg.

1938 June.JoinstheIndependentLabourParty.

1938 24 June.‘WhyIJoinedtheI.L.P.’, NewLeader

1938–39 12 September–26 March.InFrenchMorocco(mainlyat Marrakech);writes ComingUpforAir.

1939 12 June. ComingUpforAir publishedbyGollancz.

1939 3 September.Warbreaksout.Shortlythereafter,Orwellleaves IndependentLabourPartybecauseofitsoppositiontothewar.

1940 11 March. InsidetheWhaleandOtherEssays

1941 19 February. TheLionandtheUnicorn publishedbySecker& Warburg(firstof‘SearchlightBooks’editedbyOrwelland T.R.Fyvel).

1941–43 August 1941–November 1943.TalksAssistant,laterTalks Producer,inIndiansectionofBBC’sEasternService.

1941 September.Writes‘TheArtofDonaldMcGill’, Horizon.

1943 24 November.ResignsfromBBCandjoins Tribune asLiterary Editor(until 16 February 1945).

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1944 14 May.BirthofOrwell’sson;adoptedJune 1944 andchristenedRichardHoratioBlair.

1945 15 February–endMarch.Warcorrespondentfor TheObserver and TheManchesterEveningNews inFranceandGermany.

1945 29 March.EileenBlairdieswhileunderananestheticto undergoahysterectomy.Afterthefuneral,Orwellreturnsto Europetoreporttheaftermathofthewar.

1945 17 August.Aftermanyrejections,publicationof AnimalFarm bySecker&Warburginaneditionof 4,500 copies.

1946 14 February. CriticalEssays publishedbySecker&Warburg.

1946 April.‘PoliticsandtheEnglishLanguage’, Horizon.

1946 Summer.‘WhyIWrite’, Gangrel. 26 August. AnimalFarm publishedinUSA.

1947 31 May.SendsFredricWarburgaversionof‘Such,SuchWere theJoys’;finalversionprobablycompletedaboutMay 1948. Firstdraftcomposedasearlyas 1946.

1947 20 December.PatientinHairmyresHospital,EastKilbride (nearGlasgow),sufferingfromtuberculosis;staysseven months.

1948 13 May.Publicationof ComingUpforAir,firstvolumein Secker’sUniformEdition.

1948 28 July.AtBarnhill,Juraforfivemonths.

1948 15 November.Publicationoffirstvolumeof BritishPamphleteers, byAllanWingate,introducedbyOrwell.

1949 6 January–3 September.PatientinCotswoldSanatorium, Cranham,Gloucestershire,withseriouscaseoftuberculosis.

1949 8 June.Publicationof NineteenEighty-Four bySecker&Warburg.

July. NineteenEighty-Four appearsasBookoftheMonthClub selection.

1949 3 September.TransferredtoUniversityCollegeHospital, GowerStreet,London.

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1949 13 October.MarriesSoniaBrownellandnamesSoniaand RichardReesashisliteraryexecutors.Plansextendedtripto Swisssanatorium.

1950 21 January.Diesofpulmonarytuberculosis,age 46.

1950 26 January.FuneralatChristChurch,AlbanyStreet,London. Buried,asEricArthurBlair,AllSaintsCemetery,Sutton Courtenay,Berkshire.

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