The work of George Orwell has become a cornerstone of modern literature. His groundbreaking books such as Animal Farm and 1984 were famously considered to be dystopic cautionary tales by readers and critics alike and his essays and non fiction works still hold relevance today, as seen in his work “Politics and the English Language”. The essay in particular contains a claim that has been underlined and considered in many circles. The question remains, how does Orwell use evidence to support the underlined claim?

Understanding The Underlined Claim

The underlined claim that Orwell makes in “Politics and the English Language” is that “political language . . . is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind”. To reach this conclusion, Orwell makes use of an array of evidence from literary sources and personal observation to back up his claim. Let’s take a look at what evidence Orwell uses to support this claim.

Examples From Literature

When it comes to evidence, Orwell draws heavily from literature in his essay. His most famous example comes from the book 1984 when the protagonist, Winston, is undergoing “reeducation” and O’Brien tells him that “Reality is not external” (Orwell 205). This evidence, and many other literary examples, are used to illustrate the point that language can be used to rid words of their true meanings and instead twist them to be used in order to further a political agenda.

Personal Observations

To add further evidence to his argument, Orwell also makes use of his own observations of the English language in his essay. He notes that political language “consists of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness” and that it “is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind”. Both these observations are backed up by examples from literature and thus act as further evidence for Orwell’s argument.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear that Orwell uses both evidence from literature and from his own personal observations to make his point in “Politics and the English Language”. He presents many examples from literature such as the previously mentioned example from 1984 and he also makes use of his own personal observations such as the idea of “cloudy vagueness” in political language. These two pieces of evidence are used to back up the underlined claim and make a compelling argument in favor of Orwell’s beliefs.