Realism and Critique of Social, Religious, and Economical Relationship to Individual Freedom in George Orwell’s Novels ‘A Clergyman’s Daughter’ and ‘Keep the Aspidistra Flying.'

1. Realism and Critique of Social, Religious, and
Economical Relationship to Individual Freedom
in George Orwell’s Novels ‘A Clergyman’s
Daughter’ and ‘Keep the Aspidistra Flying.
● Prepared By : Nirav Lalitbhai Amreliya
● Ro. N/o. : 18
● Batch : 2021 - 2023 (M.A.Semester 4)
● Enrollment Number : 4069206420210002
● Phone Number : +91 9662471011
● Email Address : niramreliyaunofficial@gmail.com
● Submitted To : Smt. S. B. Gardi Department of English,
Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University,
Vidhyanagar, Bhavnagar, Gujarat - 364001
● (Dated On : 5th March,2023)

2. ❖ Points to Ponder Over :
➢ Why should we regurgitate chewed topics like Poverty, Authoritarianism, and Religious Bigotry?
➢ Does Orwellian Insight serve any purpose for present time in inspecting cultural dynamics?
➢ Religion Versus Individual Freedom in ‘A Clergyman’s Daughter’.
➢ Can Dorothy Hare be seen as a Devdasi as far as Religious Strictures are concerned?
➢ Conflict of Art Versus Capitalism in ‘Keep the Aspidistra Flying’.
➢ Can Gordon Comstock be seen as a realistic depiction of the aspiring writers who face the conflict of Art versus
Subsistence?

3. ➢ Why should we regurgitate chewed topics like Poverty,
Authoritarianism, and Religious Bigotry?
● “Much about poverty is obvious enough. One does not need elaborate criteria, cunning measurement, or
probing analysis, to recognize raw poverty and to understand its antecedents. It would be natural to be
impatient with long-winded academic studies on 'poor naked wretches' with 'houseless heads and unfed
sides' and 'loop'd and windowed raggedness', to use King Lear's graphic description.” (Sen)
➔ This statement by sir Amartya Sen provides an individual outlook to observe the material condition of the people
one sees around one and keeps it unarticulated; this may be valid on individual level and as literary writers captures
the theme of poverty in their respective works, but for the exact statistical data, research is what is needed to be
conducted, still the issue of poverty is as obvious as the poor.
● “A tyrannical aristocrat does not just independently wield power but is empowered by “discourses,”
accepted ways of thinking, writing, and speaking and practices that embody, exercise, and amount to
power.” (Guerin)
➔ The aforesaid assertion seems quite pertinent to the history of wars and mass-massacres as well as it also serves as a
word of caution for reminding us not to make such heinous mistakes in future; Adolf Hitler (Germany), Benito
Mussolini (Italy), Joseph Stalin (Russia),etc.

4. ➢ Does Orwellian Insight serve any purpose for present time in
inspecting cultural dynamics?
❖ Definition of ‘Orwellian’ according to the Oxford Languages : ‘Characteristic of the writings of George
Orwell, especially with reference to his dystopian account of a future totalitarian state in Nineteen Eighty-
Four.’
➔ Timothy Garton Ash’s review of Peter Davison’s The Complete Works of George Orwell, entitled “Orwell in
1998,” has the lament: “Yet Orwell was no Shakespeare. He was not a universal genius. Nor was he a
natural master of the English language” (Saunders)
➔ Norman Collins went so far as to hint that “the chaotic structure of [A Clergyman’s Daughter] would
suggest some kind of mental instability.” (Saunders)
➔ Nick Bentley writes : “Orwell’s name will forever be associated with totalitarianism and the
manipulation of language in order to maintain state control. This is particularly ironic given that in an
essay of 1946 – Politics and the English Language – he was keen to champion plain speaking in political
discourse.” (Bentley)

5. ➢ Religion Versus Individual Freedom in ‘A Clergyman’s Daughter’
:
● As Orwell himself was an atheist and humanitarian writer, he has meticulously exposed the sham
of hypocritical religious bigotry of England in early twentieth century in his works ranging from
essays to novels.
● “As usual, there was only one other communicant—old Miss Mayfill, of The Grange. The
attendance at Holy Communion was so bad that the Rector could not even get any boys
to serve him, except on Sunday mornings, when the boys liked showing off in front of
the congregation in their cassocks and surplices.” (Orwell)
➔ In the aforementioned sequence of the novel when Dorothy pays a visit to St Athelstan's Church,
the insight of social hypocrisy done in the name of religious ceremonies is captured by the author.
● “'This is a valid sacrament,' he seemed to be saying, 'and it is my duty to administer it to
you. But remember that I am only your priest, not your friend. As a human being I
dislike you and despise you.'” (Orwell)

6. ➔ This is how Orwell depicted the anti-humanist ideals of the rigid church through the character of the
Rector who is ideal in religious rituals and bigot in terms of religious dogmas.
● Orwell’s French translator, R. M. Raimbault, read it and liked it, commenting: “It is a book
which is often powerful and makes remarkable observations, strange—in particular your
Trafalgar Square—full of humour, sometimes fierce, and written boldly and with
captivating originality.” (Saunders)
● Douglas Kerr’s assessment, for example, praised the chapter’s artistic merits, noting that its
characters “have no possessions at all except their voice, and to tell their story Orwell
recognizes that he has to allow them to speak for themselves. So the controlling narrative
voice falls silent, and a chattering polyphony takes over.” (Saunders)
● Robert Lee expertly delineates how the varying, disparate narrative elements in A Clergyman’s
Daughter actually harmonize to strike a greater political note. Lee writes: “Such passages spoil the
conventional unity and justify the designation episodic. But this need not be pejorative. If we
think of the novel as picaresque, the seemingly random adventures the protagonist
experiences must conventionally be disparate, revealing varied inequities in the society which
is explored.” (Saunders)

7. ➢ Can Dorothy Hare be seen as a Devdasi as far as Religious
Strictures are concerned?
● ‘It was not that he was a bad priest, merely as a priest. In his
purely clerical duties he was scrupulously correct—perhaps a little
too correct for a Low Church East Anglian parish….But that a
clergyman has any duties outside the four walls of the church was
a thing that had never seriously occurred to him. Unable to afford
a curate, he left the dirty work of the parish entirely to his wife,
and after her death (she died in 1921) to Dorothy.’ (Orwell)
● The Devadasi system is a Hindu Religious practise which
offers prepubescent girls in marriage to deities. As
servants ordained by deities, Devadasi’s are ritually
forced to offer sexual service upon attaining puberty.
Their virginity is sold and they are paid a pittance for
their services, if at all. Devadasi means ‘Servent of God’.
(Jain)

8. ➢ Conflict of Art Versus Capitalism in ‘Keep the Aspidistra Flying’ :
● ‘What do they think? Winter's coming. Is my job safe? The sack means the workhouse.
Circumcise ye your foreskins, saith the Lord. Suck the blacking off the boss's boots. Yes!’ (Orwell)
● In the Telegraph, Cyril Connolly gave a far different review from the one he gave Burmese Days, objecting a
great deal to what he reads as the “disagreeable” truths circulating in the book. Here Connolly has fallen into
the (still-familiar) trap of confusing opinions expressed in the novel with those of the author. Connolly is
clearly reading the complaining protagonist as a stand-in for Orwell, failing to grasp Orwell’s
experimentation with narrative voice. (Saunders)
● John Mander, too, follows Connolly’s reading of the character’s thoughts as a reflection of the author’s:
Instead of allowing the money theme to develop out of the talk and behaviour of his characters,
Orwell tells at the start that his novel is going to be about money. He hammers this into us page
after page: “For after all, what is there behind it, except money? Money for the right kind of
education. . . . Give me not righteousness, give me money, only money.” (Saunders)
● ‘'Think' again. No matter. What do they think? Money, money! Rent, rates, taxes, school bills,
season tickets, boots for the children. And the life insurance policy and the skivvy's wages.’ (Orwell)

9. ● “Orwell, on the other hand, criticizes capitalism from the beggared and dark battle Gordon Comstock
fights. Gordon rejects opportunity and compliance with standard economic society in order to stand
against what he calls the “Money God”. This casts Gordon into deep despair that lasts until his ultimate
reacceptance of the mainstream economic system. Although a distinct displeasure with capitalism is well
vocalized in these novels, the issues raised are not resolved. Rather than articulating true alternative
solutions or modifications that could be made, these authors only pessimistically embrace war as an
inevitable final outcome.” (Wolf)

10. ➢ Can Gordon Comstock be seen as a realistic depiction of the
aspiring writers who face the conflict of Art versus Subsistence?
● Stephen King : ‘The Tommyknockers’ is part science fiction, part horror, and widely considered his worst work. It
was released in 1987 as his 22nd novel and the 17th written under his own name, rather than his pseudonym Richard
Bachman. This book is widely considered to be absurd by critics. King himself reportedly called it “an awful book”
and was doing cocaine throughout the writing process. (Etherwood)
● Kurt Vonnegut : Slapstick was his eighth novel, published in 1976. Not only did critics and readers not enjoy the
book, but even Vonnegut was not a fan. He graded his books in 1981’s Palm Sunday and gave Slapstick a “D.” He
said it “may be a very bad book. Everybody else writes lousy books, so why shouldn’t I?” Critics did not have kinder
words for the book, The New York Times compared it to “a bowl of air.” (Etherwood)
● Tom Wolfe : Am Charlotte Simmons was an award-winning book! However, it was not for the right reasons. I Am
Charlotte Simmons won the Literary Review Bad Sex Award. Wolfe published this book in 2004 when he was 74
years old. (Etherwood)

11. ● Works Cited :
❏ Guerin, Wilfred L. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. Oxford University Press, 2005.
❏ Jain, Pallav V. “Why Devdasi System Is Still Continuing in India?” Ground Report, Ground Report, 18 Oct. 2022,
https://groundreport.in/devadasi-system-in-india/.
❏ Orwell, George. A Clergyman's Daughter. Penguin Books, in Association with Martin Secker & Warburg, 2000.
❏ Orwell, George. Keep the Aspidistra Flying. Penguin Books, 2014.
❏ Saunders, Loraine. George Orwell’s Critical Reception, Adobe PDF Library 9.9, 4 June 2012,
https://salempress.com/Media/SalemPress/samples/Orwell%20Sample.pdf.
❏ Sen, Amartya Kumar. Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation. Oxford University Press,
2002.
❏ Etherwood, Steve. “10 Famous Authors with Failed Books.” Listverse, 15 Aug. 2022, https://listverse.com/2022/08/15/10-
famous-authors-with-failed-books/.
❏ Wolf, Joseph. “Struggling For An Answer to Capitalism: Evelyn Waugh and George Orwell’s Pessimistic Approach.” The
Proceedings of GREAT Day 2011, The State University of New York at Geneseo, 17 Apr. 2020,
https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1250&context=proceedings-of-great-day#page=158.