Such, Such Were the Joys
Yong Choi
Mrs. Kelly
AP Lang Period 5
28 August 2013
Critique Of Such, Such Were the Joys In his personal essay Such, Such Were the Joys, Orwell abhors the idea that rich and powerful are favored while poor and weak are scorned at and uses anecdotes from his childhood to support his position. At every mention of such idea, his tone is clearly of a disapproving one. Orwell attempts to convey to the readers of his position by using many kind of literary devices. Orwell supports his view by using anecdotes from his years at a boarding school. Wealth and social rank had immense importance during the years of Orwell’s education. The boys from the upper class family were treated with the utmost attention. Orwell writes “All the very rich boys were more or less undistinguishedly favored.” which shows how the favoritism toward the higher class boys was not only seen as unbiased and it was even openly expressed. (274) Also as one of the boys who had been granted into school as a financially aided student, he was constantly being pressured into meeting the standard set by the school headmaster. Orwell gradually moves into the scholarship class, in which he was crammed with learning as cynically as a goose is crammed for Christmas. (274) By being placed in the “scholarship class,” he was domineered by the fact that he was receiving aids from school and was consistently aware of it. Through out his personal essay, Orwell maintains a tone that shows his acrimony toward the subject. Since young age, he discovers the world that revolves around wealth and power and learns to despise it. By the early age of ten or eleven, he came to a conclusion: It was not only money that mattered: there were also strength, beauty, charm, athleticism and something called “guts“ or “character,“ which in reality meant the power to impose your will on others. I did not possess any of these qualities. (294)
Orwell’s early realization of the way the world work left him dishearten.
Mrs. Kelly
AP Lang Period 5
28 August 2013
Critique Of Such, Such Were the Joys In his personal essay Such, Such Were the Joys, Orwell abhors the idea that rich and powerful are favored while poor and weak are scorned at and uses anecdotes from his childhood to support his position. At every mention of such idea, his tone is clearly of a disapproving one. Orwell attempts to convey to the readers of his position by using many kind of literary devices. Orwell supports his view by using anecdotes from his years at a boarding school. Wealth and social rank had immense importance during the years of Orwell’s education. The boys from the upper class family were treated with the utmost attention. Orwell writes “All the very rich boys were more or less undistinguishedly favored.” which shows how the favoritism toward the higher class boys was not only seen as unbiased and it was even openly expressed. (274) Also as one of the boys who had been granted into school as a financially aided student, he was constantly being pressured into meeting the standard set by the school headmaster. Orwell gradually moves into the scholarship class, in which he was crammed with learning as cynically as a goose is crammed for Christmas. (274) By being placed in the “scholarship class,” he was domineered by the fact that he was receiving aids from school and was consistently aware of it. Through out his personal essay, Orwell maintains a tone that shows his acrimony toward the subject. Since young age, he discovers the world that revolves around wealth and power and learns to despise it. By the early age of ten or eleven, he came to a conclusion: It was not only money that mattered: there were also strength, beauty, charm, athleticism and something called “guts“ or “character,“ which in reality meant the power to impose your will on others. I did not possess any of these qualities. (294)
Orwell’s early realization of the way the world work left him dishearten.
Cited: Lopate, Phillip. "Such, Such Were the Joy." The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present. New York: Anchor, 1994. 269-302. Print.