George Orwell and American National Identity

Abstract

George Orwell’s political writing was adept at capturing crises. Totalitarianism, nationalism, colonialism, class, poverty, the Cold War, and the early atomic age all cast a sinister shadow during his short lifetime. Within international relations, and coupled to his own life experiences, these dangers caused an obvious preoccupation with certain states and entities most notably the USSR, Spain, India, France, and Europe amongst others. The United States somewhat sat out of Orwell’s orbit which is paradoxical considering the country’s seismic role in a twentieth century marred by upheavals and ruin. This paper seeks to address this gap by examining what his essays, journalism, and letters tell us about how the US and specifically its national identity was fashioned. The findings concern culture and language, wealth and race, and power and empire. As such, despite America initially featuring as peripheral to his concerns, its literary prowess, economic might, and international influence all inspired Orwell to produce a number of important observations on American national identity.