George Orwell's Views On English Language

Orwell’s views on English language is to be as direct and concise as possible to convey the message to the reader. Writing needs to be understandable to any person who reads it hence being as simple as possible. Orwell created rules of writing to do help writers convey their ideas to the reader without confusion of the message. The rules are simple and are outlined as: Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print; Never use a long word where a short one can be used; If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out; Never use the passive where you can use the active; Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent; Break any

The first metaphor in paragraph 14, “The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter”. Comparing the countries in pace of society growing is a great way to show how the United States is slow in change of any kind. The “jetlike speed” and “horse-and-buggy” references give an exact differences between in the growth in each county with no room for misconception of the message. In paragraph 14 reads “living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fear and outer resentment”. The metaphor “tiptoe stance” is being used to make the reader think of as someone trying to move live in a community without making any noise to avoid consequences. The African-American community was forced in the 1960’s to live as invisible as possible hence the reason to use “tiptoe stance”. Also, in paragraph 14 “There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair.” Martin Luther King is creating an image of people who are fed up with being pushed aside and will no longer tolerate being pushed aside as if insignificant to society. The metaphor “cup of endurance runs over” sets the people being fed up and” abyss of despair” finishes the image of the people in a black hole lost in chaos. The use of the two metaphors creates a strong image exactly how African-Americans were being treated in an unjust society full of