Orwell's Opposition

George Orwell has been one of my favorite writers since I read 1984 in my ninth grade literature class.  I have a great respect for Orwell’s resistance towards conformity, and the power of institutions of all kinds over the culture and everyday lives of the human race.  In his article “Politics in the English Language” I have been once again moved by Orwell’s revolutionary ideas.  Through this in depth look into the constructs and misconceptions of English itself, Orwell allows his audience to see their language (English) from a starkly different perspective than we do on a regular basis.  The examples given in this article are striking to the audience because he comments on the “normal” literary conventions of the day.  Thus, Orwell forces his reader to confront his own use of English as a communicative device.  Orwell is able to succinctly point out the different uses, and misuses, of language, and then describe the true effect of language on the meaning of an English work. 

One main aspect of Orwell’s article that sparked my interest is his emphasis on the power of language.  I find it interesting to see how the smallest idiosyncrasy in a sentence can completely change the tone, emotion, or even meaning of a work.  It is interesting to note how accurately Orwell portrays the language of what is popularly considered politics and how it can change the true meaning of an otherwise fundamental idea.  In the thirteenth paragraph of this article, Orwell draws a startling conclusion about politics and the English language, he describes a politician reciting an overwrought speech full to the brim of colloquial phrases and metaphors meant to emphasize whatever point he is trying to make.  Through this description, Orwell makes a serious comment on the power of language as a whole.  Anyone can make up an idea and share it with others, but those who manipulate language in order to meet the ends they desire are helping to destroy the overall clarity of the English language.  I tend to agree with Orwell on this subject.  I feel that most propaganda, whether political, religious or what-have-you is a gross misuse of the English language, because it twists words and gives them new meaning in the context of whatever they are promoting.  I wish more people would just say what they mean in a clear, concise statement rather than fluff up their diction in order to gain sympathizers.     

Feminist Curiosity

In reading the "Feminist Criticism and Wuthering Heights", I found myself very curious as to the lense of study and its true meanings.  Before reading this section of criticism I had a very basic concept of feminism in general.  I was one of those people who looked at feminist point of view as solely a critique of the injustices of women in society, so the different definitions and perspectives of this article were very enlightening for me. 

The most interesting aspects of this criticism, for me, are the different regional perspectives of feminism.  "French feminists tended to focus their attention on language, analyzing the ways in which meaning is produced.  They concluded that language as we commonly think of it is a decidedly male realm"(451), ""American feminist critics began by analyzing literary texts rather than philosophizing about language.  Many reviewed the great works by male writers, embarking on a revisionist rereading of literary tradition"(454), "British feminists tended to distingush themselves from what they saw as American overemphasis on texts linking women across boundaries and decades and an underemphasis on popular art and culture.  They regarded their own critical practice as more political than that of Norht American feminists, whom they sometimes faulted for being uninterested in historical detail"(455).  From these different, regional definitions of feminism truly helped me grasp the different nationalities of women, and their points of view in regards to Wuthering Heights.  

"These femisists strss that, while all women are female, they are something else as well (such as African American, lesbian, Muslim Pakistani).  This "something else" is precisely what makes them, their problems, and their goals different from those of other women"(456).  From this quote, I am more readily able to draw different conclusions on the women of Wuthering Heights, not based on their general circumstances placed on them by the narrative itself, but rather on the circumstances put on these women from the standpoint of history and society at the time.  Catherine Linton is no longer just a spoiled, confused woman, she becomes, under this new lense, a undereducated, underappreciated, and underambitios somewhat noblewoman of the English moors of the nineteenth century.