Working out what to read after an immersive experience with a book, is never easy and particularly so after something like “In Other Worlds”. However, I was looking through the stacks and this little pamphlet slid into view; I picked it up earlier on in the year and somehow it seemed the time was right to read it. I’ve dipped into Orwell’s essays off and on over the years and even if I don’t always agree with what he has to say, he’s always a thoughtful and thought-provoking read.
“England Your England” was first published in 1941 as the opening essay of a collection entitled “The Lion and the Unicorn”. In it, Orwell, surrounded by signs of the War and with bombers flying overhead, casts his eye over his country and its inhabitants and tries to make some sense of England whilst looking to its future. The quote featured on the back of the booklet will give you a flavour of the narrative:
England is a family in which the young are generally thwarted and most of the power is in the hands of irresponsible uncles and bedridden aunts. Still, it is a family… A family with the wrong members in control.
That latter sentence *does* seem particularly relevant still, but I wondered how the rest of his arguments would hold up. We are, of course 60-odd years on from that point, and the country could be considered to have changed beyond all recognition. Well, yes and no…
Orwell considers patriotism, the relationship between the English and other countries, the state of the Empire, whether there are national characteristics and if we are a homogenous nation. He even berates himself for using the words “England” and “English”, because of course he is considering the UK. Many of his arguments touch on class and the division of wealth, and this is where I think he’s still very much spot on.
What was it that at every decisive moment made every British statesman do the wrong thing with so unerring an instinct?
Although the class system has broken down to a certain extent, we still live in a country where there is apparently democracy, and also a Royal Family, a House of Lords, and the Eton-type public school system which *still* produces so many of those who are supposed to be providing sensible government but don’t.
England is a country in which property and financial power are concentrated in very few hands.
And somehow, despite the decline of the aristocracy, they have managed to survive by absorbing up and coming wealthy manufacturers, financiers and the like (the subject of so many 20th century middlebrow novels about mixed-class marriages!) However, Orwell does not reserve his ire exclusively for the monied and the upper classes; he is equally scathing about those left-wing intellectuals who toe the Soviet party line and refused to believe anything wrong about Russia and what was really happening there. He has strong words about the inability of the English working class to ever do anything as decisive as starting a revolution, and he cites this as one of the differences between this country and, say, the working class of France or Russia (both of which have managed multiple revolutions).
Despite the fact that some elements of this essay have by necessity become dated, there are many things in it that ring true and leave you wondering if even the superficialities have changed as much as you might think. Football, for example, is still a force for entertaining the masses on a Saturday afternoon, and the reliance on the hope of a win via the pools has simply been replaced by the dream of a lottery jackpot. However, there is a sense that with the current state of the world we are edging away from those slightly bumbling elements that kept England safe from extremism taking hold; the innate belief in the legal system and its fairness; the lack of real enthusiasm for war; the preference for the everyday distractions rather than developing any strong philosophy of life or a belief system of any kind. Orwell refers to “the strange mixture of reality and illusion, democracy and privilege, humbug and decency, the subtle network of compromises, by which the nation keeps itself in its familiar shape” and I found myself wondering in the modern world if this kind of safety net was being eroded.
“England Your England” is a surprisingly wide-ranging piece of writing for 40 pages, and ends on a note of optimism which was perhaps ill-founded (and which Orwell may have rejected a little later in his life). He states “This war, unless we are defeated, will wipe out most of the existing, class privileges“. Looking around me today, I don’t think, alas, that that is the case. We seem to me to be living in a world just as riddled with inequality as it was in Orwell’s day, where the rich are getting richer, and the poor getting poorer, to paraphrase the old song. OH often comments that there is only one cake to go round and that the greedy lot just want to make their big piece even bigger at the expense of the rest of us, and I think he’s not far off. This was a fascinating little essay to read at this moment in time, and it makes me wish we still had commentators of the calibre of Orwell taking on those in power…
Tredynas Days
Sep 27, 2017 @ 07:08:01
Interesting piece. I reread Wigan Pier last year – another polemic – though he lingers too long there on distractions. For an old Etonian he’s pretty radical. And you’re right: the power elite continues to gain strength
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 27, 2017 @ 11:16:12
He is rather – but then he was never your typical Etonian I think. And although he can go off point, when he’s on point he’s just brilliant!
madamebibilophile
Sep 27, 2017 @ 07:57:26
Oh dear – it does still seem horribly relevant 😦
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 27, 2017 @ 11:12:32
I know – depressing, isn’t it… 😦
JacquiWine
Sep 27, 2017 @ 08:16:50
It’s interesting to consider the relevance of some of these classic writers in today’s day and age. Some of them are proving to be very timely indeed – I guess I’m thinking of Sinclair Lewis and his novel It Can’t Happen Here (particularly in light of recent political events in the US). It’s been a long time since I last read any Orwell, but I’m sure he falls into this category as well.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 27, 2017 @ 11:12:19
Yes, I have the Sinclair Lewis lurking but I don’t know if I feel mentally and morally strong enough at the moment. This little booklet did indeed feel very timely.
Café Society
Sep 27, 2017 @ 08:43:12
Do you know G K Chesterton’s poem, ‘The Secret People’? He has interesting things to say about the English and the likelihood of there ever being a revolution, which chime rather well with Orwell’s opinions.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 27, 2017 @ 11:10:38
I don’t but I shall definitely check it out – thanks!
Izzy
Sep 27, 2017 @ 11:59:05
Well, I’m not convinced that full-scale revolutions change anything. Look at Russia: decades of harships and suffering, and now the country is run by the maffia. In France, the money is in the hands of über-rich shopkeepers (Bettancourt, Leclerc, Mulliez, Pinault…).
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 27, 2017 @ 13:09:19
They probably don’t, because any popular uprising soon gets hijacked by those who want to regain control and be in charge. So a new regime takes over from the old one and the people are simply controlled again. I don’t know what a good model for society is nowadays – definitely we need some kind of new Utopian set up – but the ones we’ve got ain’t working, that’s for sure.
Emma
Sep 30, 2017 @ 06:38:22
You’re right but seen from my side of the Channel, the UK seems to have a higher concentration of wealth than France. Gut feeling confirmed by EU statistics:
In the UK, the 20% the richest have 5 times more than the 20% the poorest. In France, this ratio is 4.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 30, 2017 @ 18:15:18
It’s pretty rubbish either way.
Emma
Sep 30, 2017 @ 18:36:56
Yes. And it won’t change any time soon.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 30, 2017 @ 18:40:59
Nope….
heavenali
Sep 27, 2017 @ 16:25:35
Fascinating. I have read several Orwell novels but none of his non-fiction. Much of this collection sounds as if it is still very relevant, especially when we consider how people in the UK have been divided over what each side consider to be their England. I wonder what he make of where we are now, and how so much power is still held by a few of that privileged minority.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 27, 2017 @ 18:09:28
I find his non-fiction to be eminently readable and yes, much of it is still extremely relevant in our rather messed up country. I think in many ways he would be shocked by the lack of change in the power structure.
Izzy
Sep 27, 2017 @ 16:57:57
Reminds me of Jonathan Coe’s What a Carve-up ! How I loved that book !
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 27, 2017 @ 18:07:09
I haven’t read that but I’ll keep an eye out.
Lady Fancifull
Sep 27, 2017 @ 21:42:44
We clearly share a deep admiration for George Orwell Karen. He spoke to me hugely in my teens and twenties, both the fiction and the non-fiction, and, really speaks to me still. A very human writer; some things might be out of date – a lot, sadly, probably not – but he still seems so very decent, so very thoughtful in his views, and the reasoning and feeling behind those views. You final phrase sums it so well ………’and it makes me wish we still had commentators of the calibre of Orwell taking on those in power…’ Actual decent clear sightedness seems sadly lacking – so many people with agendas which seem self-serving merely. He seems, these days, something of a giant amongst squabbling hyenas
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 28, 2017 @ 11:22:28
He’s one of my heroes, plain and simple. I too was lucky enough to encounter him first in my teens, and it was a bit of a life-changer. And each time I’ve returned to his work I’ve been reminded of his basic humanity, and yes, as you say, his decency. Not many like him and certainly not nowadays – I’d love to set him on the squabbling hyenas (what a wonderful phrase!)
Lady Fancifull
Sep 28, 2017 @ 13:19:49
One of my heroes too, Karen, then and now. When i did my degree, one paper was on literary criticism, which I wasn’t hugely interested in, but I also knew that though there would be questions on those studied, there would also be various quotes and general ideas about the subject, and we would be able to discuss a critic of our own choice, should statements be found applicable. As I had gobbled up those Penguin collected essays, journalism and letters, what seemed a less interesting part of the course was rendered fascinating. Such a mind, such a heart and such a clear and plain (in a great way) user of language
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 28, 2017 @ 15:09:37
You articulate so well what I feel about Orwell. And yes – his use of the English language appears so simple yet is somehow so powerful and effective. I really must go and read some more…
MarinaSofia
Sep 27, 2017 @ 22:14:40
He was remarkably clear-sighted, particularly in an age where many people were still quite starry-eyed about certain -isms. You are so right that we need more people like him commenting on the present-day mess.
Lisa Hill
Sep 27, 2017 @ 23:31:31
Amen to that Marina and Lady Fanciful: from here in Australia where we independently and without any revolutions achieved remarkably progressive reforms in the early 20th century, only to trot obediently behind the economic and social dogmas of the C21st, I yearn for the insight of public intellectuals who speak with the clarity that Orwell did.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 28, 2017 @ 11:24:09
Agreed – the public intellectuals we have just don’t seem to be able to get to the point. I often have high hopes of Will Self, but he usually ends up resorting to insults as opposed to clarity and reason, which is counter-productive.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 28, 2017 @ 11:23:02
He was – he managed to cut through so much of the nonsense and I really wish we had his like about nowadays.
Tina
Sep 29, 2017 @ 09:44:24
George Orwell nailed it in an essay written in 1941: ‘England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality.
‘In Left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse-racing to suet puddings.
‘It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during God Save The King than of stealing from a poor box.’
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 29, 2017 @ 10:29:14
He did – he cuts straight to the point. This country still can’t deal with the concept of an intellectual!
Emma
Sep 30, 2017 @ 06:39:43
I’m currently reading his Homage to Catalonia and have read Down and Out in Paris and London. I’m amazed at his lucidity.
I would have loved to meet him.
1streading
Oct 01, 2017 @ 16:31:46
Orwell was right to the extent that the creation of the welfare state did a great deal to improve equality between classes, and a demand for white collar workers in the 50s and 60s meant there was a brief period of social mobility. But that time has ended, there are fewer decent jobs than ever, and the welfare stats is being dismantled.
The problem with England is that it had its revolution too soon – does Orwell mention that?
As for the inability of English people to distinguish between England and the UK, that hasn’t changed either!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 01, 2017 @ 16:38:58
Yeah, I do feel that we moved through a period of relative equality too quickly, and the fat cats quickly grabbed back all they could while the population was distracted by the relative prosperity of all, the capitalist boom and the advent of technology. So now we’re left in the mess we’re in. No, I don’t think he really touches on the English Civil War – I guess that’s kind of too early, as you say – there’s never been a *modern* revolution in this country. And as an ex-pat Scot I entirely agree with you about the blindness of the English when it comes to what makes up the UK! 🙂
Liz Dexter
Oct 02, 2017 @ 07:13:22
Remarkably relevant still – how depressing. Where did this lovely edition come from?
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 02, 2017 @ 09:12:37
I know – it is… 😦 As for the pamphlet, it was in my local Waterstones branch – I think they’ve released a few Orwell pamphlets as I’m sure I have another one somewhere…
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 02, 2017 @ 09:13:39
Yes, I do, having checked – and there are pictures of them on this post! 🙂
Some pithy prose from Orwell @shinynewbooks @PenguinUKBooks | Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings
Feb 08, 2018 @ 09:39:42