'Why I Write': Finding Purpose in One of George Orwell's Best Essays
The philosophy of one of the greatest 20th century writers should not be overlooked
Most people know George Orwell from his famous dystopian novel, 1984. And that’s not surprising because it’s one of the most important pro-democracy and anti-totalitarian works in history.
But fewer people have read Orwell’s essays. Orwell, whose real name was Eric Blair, was a prolific writer until his death at the young age of 46.
At the start of the war in Ukraine, I wrote about Orwell’s Notes on Nationalism, applying it to Putin’s motivations for invading Ukraine. The application to the current situation in America is even more intriguing, so stay tuned for that forthcoming essay.
But in the meantime, I want to focus on Orwell’s essay, Why I Write. It’s relevant to writers and non-writers alike because it touches on something philosophically deeper about humanity — purpose. And specifically, how the time and place in which someone grows up and lives can fundamentally alter and influence that purpose.
George Orwell knew he wanted to be a writer from an early age
Orwell begins his essay by stating, “From an early age, perhaps the age of five or six, I knew that when I grew up I should be a writer.” Although like many of us who discover our interests and curiosities young, he did not seriously practice the writing craft until far later in life.
What Orwell did was experiment. He wrote poetry. He penned short stories. He iterated on his style and prose.
The part of the essay that impacted me the most was his discussion on deciding what to write about. How in a simpler time, had he not come of age between two world wars and lived through the Nazis attacking his home in Great Britain, he may have watched “walnuts grow” or written about beautiful things. How many things may influence someone to write, namely ego and aesthetic enthusiasm, but that one overriding motivator took hold in Orwell as world events unfolded around him — political purpose.
The Spanish war and other events in 1936-37 turned the scale and thereafter I knew where I stood. Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it.
- George Orwell from Why I Write
Orwell did not view politics in the narrow sense of the word. He didn’t think it was effective as mere rants and diatribes about perceived injustices or the inequities of the age. It shouldn’t be only limited to specific elections, policies, or politicians.
Orwell viewed politics in the broadest sense of the word — “Desire to push the world in a certain direction, to alter other people’s idea of the kind of society that they should strive after.”
He thought it was most effective when politics was fused with art. After years of searching for his writing voice, he stated: “What I have most wanted to do throughout the past ten years is to make political writing into an art.”
Orwell explained how Animal Farm was the first book he wrote where — “with full consciousness at what he was doing” — tried to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose “into one whole.”
Everything is political and everything can be art
We are living in similar times to those Orwell experienced in the early 20th century. While we’ve thankfully avoided world wars, large regional wars persist in Ukraine and Gaza while autocracy is on the rise globally. The United States is at the forefront of this global shift from democracy to more autocratic rule.
Like Orwell, given the events of the last few years, including the recent 2024 U.S. election, I know where I stand on the purpose spectrum. Every line of my writing will be — directly or indirectly — against totalitarianism, autocracy, and authoritarianism in all its forms. My writing will always promote better versions of democracy.
This includes recent essays on critical thinking and philosophy, which I plan to focus on even more. If we can equip more people with critical thinking skills and inspire them to be more informed citizens, we have a better chance of checking autocracy at the door.
Of course, there are people who don’t think everything should be political. Or that not all writing, art, or work should be politicized.
As Orwell noted in his essay, “The opinion that art should have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude.” For me, this is similar to how atheism is belief in non-belief, which is effectively a religion in itself.
That doesn’t make it wrong. And it doesn’t make me and Orwell right. But it should make people pause and consider their decisions.
If they choose to ignore possible political implications of their actions or inactions, the outcome could be similar to what happened to this German theologian:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Niemöller spent the last 8 years of Nazi rule in prisons and concentration camps from 1937 - 1945. In the 1920s and early 1930s he had been a supporter of many Nazi and far right ideas, until his eyes started to open after Hitler came to power in 1933.
The risk of succumbing to the fate of Niemöller does not mean that every piece of writing or art must be political. I am guilty of politicizing too much when I should strive to be more Orwellian and pursue political ends through more artistic and indirect means. This strategy simply resonates with people better than lecturing on why certain tariff strategies don’t work or why giving the U.S. President immunity for official acts isn’t a good idea.
Orwell’s indirect, storytelling approach that fuses politics with art is what makes a novel like 1984 so powerful. He had a clear purpose for writing it. But instead of lecturing about the dangers of totalitarianism and the benefits of democracy, he told a story about the consequences of a totalitarian state, and the degradation of truth and human rights that come with it.
We need more great political art for this modern era. We need more people in business who are willing to take direct or indirect political stands as people lose basic due process rights and the President grabs greater executive power by declaring one emergency after the next. We need more politically conscious and engaged citizens.
‘Why I Write’ and why you should know your purpose
Practically every human era is at fault for thinking their generation is most consequential; that the upcoming election is the most important; that the world is going to end.
But we would be missing the political reality of the present moment as democratic institutions decay, human rights disappear, and free speech rights degrade if we didn’t take the current world seriously. These current dynamics should influence all of our purposes, regardless of whether we write, make art, or wear a suit to work.
What you choose to prioritize and promote matters. If you’re a business owner, does diversity in hiring still mean something? Does morality in business and life still matter? Do you read newspapers that are not permitted to write op-ed pieces that critique free markets?
You do not need to be a political activist to have political purpose in the Orwellian use of the term. You can be more subtle and indirect. But if you choose not to be self-aware of political consequences, you shouldn’t be surprised if those consequences one day detrimentally affect you, as they did for Martin Niemöller.
Orwell beautifully summed up his writing craft and purpose here:
Good prose is like a windowpane. I cannot say with certainty which of my motives are the strongest, but I know which of them deserve to be followed. And looking back through my work, I see that it is invariably where I lacked a political purpose that I wrote lifeless books and was betrayed into purple passages, sentences without meaning, decorative adjectives and humbug generally.
- George Orwell in from Why I Write
I’ve come to the same conclusion as Orwell. My most lifeless works have been where I lacked political purpose. Whether as movies or essays, when I created something that tried to avoid politics or political purpose, it often was delivered stillborn and received little fanfare. On the flip side, when my work has been too political or too encumbered with bias, the same effect has occurred.
Orwell’s approach to fuse politics with art is the ideal middle ground. It’s storytelling with purpose. It’s an approach that commands attention and engagement. And this is true regardless of whether you write or practice another craft. Or even if you don’t have political purpose, but know and have passion about the purpose you do have.
In our modern time and era, your purpose does not have to be political, but you should appreciate the potential consequences if you choose to prioritize anything else.
More from me:
Thoughts on the recently announced Republican budget bill
A fun day at Coney Island (crazy to think this is part of NYC!)
In case you missed it — essay on Pete Rose and my Dad
Have a good start to your week!
I feel the same way about politics today and am an even greater fan of Orwell's after reading your post.
"Show, not tell," was the axiom my advisor told me to employ when writing my novels about three Americans building a new democracy. It was an interesting experience to be thinking in this way.