The loss of purpose and clarity in the language is used to conceal the political sins. The decay of a language in society is like an infection that runs and spreads in the society like an infection which corrupts the “civilization”. Normalization of frivolous language corrupts thought and lack of precision as well as the depiction of stale imagery has made the language deficient in purpose. This decay of the language leads to political oppression. George Orwell in this regard puts forward that the decay of the English language whose roots lie in politics is a chain and reversible reaction. He states that every writer of the English language is bound to be part of this chain by using dying metaphors and pretentious diction. Therefore, according to Orwell, every writer has played a significant part in the degradation of the English language as they write passages to simply say a thing for the sake of it rather than thinking of what meaning passages communicate to the readers of the language. This essay summarizes and debunks Orwell’s notion that the decay of the English language and politics are closely woven into each other.
“The whole tendency of modern prose is away from correctness” Orwell argues while drawing his attention to the modern English translation of the Bible due to its fabricated rewriting and vagueness of the language. Orwell expresses his concern over the poor state of English prose in the current political writings where writers choose fewer words for the sake of “meaning” and more words tacked together through pretentious diction like a fabricated hen-house. However, when writers are asked about it, they offer that as society is decaying so will the English language. Orwell notes that the struggle against this language decay in the modern English world is considered the imitation of the antiqued form of speech. Orwell considers that the frightful loss of meaning is indeed a fight against change and progress. I agree with Orwell that language change must not come at the loss of precision, originality, and meaning. Modern English is contaminated due to such bad habits and has led society to “political degradation” due to vague and incompetent writing.
In the nutshell, political language is designed to speak and normalize lies through “worn out” and “frivolous” phrases. Orwell alarms against the degradation of society and decay of language against escaping the written English standards as the follies and orthodoxy give rise to a gap that makes the precision of the language suffer. Although Orwell’s point of view in this essay is so idealistic in many ways, it is still unavoidable that the standard of the English language and political discourse has further degraded since Orwell’s time.
