George Orwell’s “Homage to Catalonia”: The Sense of Futility Essay

Introduction

In order for ordinary people to be able to understand the truth about the war, feel what the soldiers involved in it do, and also learn from the mistakes of the past, great writers devote their literary works to the meaninglessness and horrors of war. George Orwell, who took part as a volunteer for the Republicans’ POUM militia in the Spanish Civil War, was not an exception (Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica). Seven months after returning wounded from the war (Orwell 1), he decided to write a novel to tell people about the horrific reality of the war and his own gradual disappointment with communism, defining this regime as repressive and totalitarian. Overall, “the book chronicles both his observations of the drudgery of the daily life of a soldier and his disillusionment with political infighting and totalitarianism” (Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the sense of futility that Homage to Catalonia is filled with and also talk about the inevitability of the victory and rise of Marco and its meaning to human nature.

The Sense of Futility Throughout the Novel

Futility and meaninglessness are those feelings that make people doubt their actions or think of giving up because of the belief that any of their efforts are not going to be effective and useful. At the same time, this sense is, even more, destroying and depressive if it belongs to a person in a war. When fighting for any ideas, it is essential to be certain of one’s actions, beliefs, and objectives because human lives are at stake, and dying for something meaningless is terrifying. Throughout Homage to Catalonia, a sense of futility and even disappointment grows in the narrator with each chapter because some factors that were not noticed before continue to appear. Wandering bullets, deaths, fighting, words, and the war itself become meaningless, making the whole situation seem strange (Orwell 11, 18, 26). Overall, the main concepts in which futility is the most strong and evident are discussed below.

Futility in Joining Any Fighting Party

It is hard to disagree that most individuals need to be united with other like-minded persons to make their actions more effective and successful. In a war, people are typically on different ideological and political sides, which logically means the necessity for them to join a party to combine efforts and contribute to a possible victory. Generally, persons join parties based both on the similarity of goals and priorities and the perspectives of the party itself.

Nevertheless, in Homage to Catalonia, it seems that joining any fighting political organization is pointless and futile for several reasons. First of all, considering the vast number of opposing parties supporting both Republicans and Nationalists, any of them can be declared illegal, which will eliminate its members’ efforts and objectives (Orwell 104). Joining an organization that can be destroyed seems meaningless. Second, all political factions pursue their own interests, which may not coincide with the general interests of the party or a person willing to join it. Finally, all of them are severely disorganized and chaotic, which increases the likelihood of wasted efforts and time if joining them.

Futility in Organization

Further, there is a sense of futility in political parties and organizations themselves. The Republican forces were composed of anarchists, communists loyal to either Trotsky (POUM) or Stalin (PCE), radical and moderate socialists, and liberals. Therefore, as mentioned above, though there seemed to be a common goal, the interests of these parties were often diverse (Orwell). Various ideological tensions and divisions were a severe obstacle that did not let factions unite their forces but made them chaotic and disorganized.

People from all different parts of Europe joining these eclectic groups could not win the war or effectively fight against the fighting. Furthermore, not being able to temporarily forget about their diversities, the socialist UGT and the anarchist CNT became involved in a conflict that weakened the whole party (Orwell 57). According to the author, “it was the antagonism between those who wished the revolution to go forward and those who wished to check or prevent it — ultimately, between Anarchists and Communists” (Orwell 57). Therefore, the futility in creating political organizations seen by the writer is framed by the fact that they will still have different priorities and interests, which will finally eliminate them without much enemy intervention.

Futility in Fighting Against Fascism

In 1936, Orwell arrived in Barcelona and decided to serve in the POUM militia to fight against the fascist rebellion. Unfortunately, he later understood the meaninglessness of this fight because there is no possibility of changing anything. In his novel, the author mentions that “— unless Spain splits up, with unpredictable consequences — the tendency of the post-war Government is bound to be Fascistic” (Orwell 89). This fight is just a pointless attempt to prevent what will eventually become more of a European trend with Mussolini and Hitler, and Orwell gradually realizes the futility of this goal. Before and during the Spanish war, the country consisted of chaotic, disorganized, and even irresponsible political parties with different ideologies, making it challenging and almost impossible to present a unified front against Franco’s solid and disciplined forces (Orwell). The writer also notices that “since 1930 the Fascists had won all the victories” (Orwell 88), and though it is crucial to fight and beat them, it is evident that any attempts from chaotically organized parties are meaningless.

The Futility of Trying to Achieve Changes

Finally, it becomes evident throughout the novel that an attempt to change the world and society is also rather futile. Orwell sees how brave young or adult people fight for what they believe in and then die for it, but when he returns from the front, he notices that everything is the same as it used to be. Any achieved changes disappear, and people prefer to return to past ideas, beliefs, and life. After the war, the author mentions: “now it was the other way about; to look bourgeois was the one salvation” (Orwell 111), and this demonstrates the futility of fighting against something that will eventually return and become a regular part of society.

Meaning for Human Nature

There are certain concepts, needs, and ideas that may be considered an integral part of human nature, and it is useless to fight against them. This novel demonstrates that the necessity for society to be divided into classes based on various factors, as well as have specific rules and order, is inherent in human beings. Indeed, most people need to know their specialized and unique functions (that are different for each social class) in order to feel more secure about their lives. This division provides individuals with some kind of stability and certainty. Hierarchy defines leaders, who are responsible for most decision-making and planning, and followers, or ordinary people, who implement the plans. Therefore, it is possible to suppose that fighting against social classes and order systems is futile: people will want to return to this structure because some are born to rule, while others feel safer when following the leaders.

The Inevitability of Raise of Franco

Considering that republicans’ forces were not organized correctly and could not temporarily forget about their differences, Franco’s victory was predictable. However, even if Republicans and nationalists initially had equal strength and opportunities, it is possible to suggest that the latter would still win the war. As mentioned above, fascism was prevalent at those times and had too much power over many countries (Orwell 88). Further, the writer believed that precisely this regime was the future of Spain, meaning that Franco’s victory was also likely.

Conclusion

To draw a conclusion, one may say that this novel is a unique example of an author describing the reality of war and filling the book with such a strong sense of futility. Even though Homage to Catalonia did not receive much attention after it was published, and it is still one of Orwell’s least famous books, it deserves to be appreciated due to its depth and autobiographical descriptions. George Orwell managed to portray the meaninglessness of both the war itself and fighting against it, as well as demonstrate that some events or concepts like class society are inevitable even if one fights against them. Thus, the rise of Franco and fascism in Spain could not be prevented even if political parties from the Republican side were less chaotic and managed to agree with each other.

References

Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Homage to Catalonia.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2020. Web.

Orwell, George. Homage to Catalonia. Penguin Modern Classics, 1938. Z-Library. Web.