George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia is devoted to the events of the Spanish Civil War which began in July 1936 and finished in April 1937. This was a complicated political and military confrontation between the opposite camps. During the time of the Second Spanish Republic, a huge group of people rebelled against the elected government and started a military struggle; two big opposing forces, Republicans and Nationalists, were formed. Francisco Franco, supported by Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and Portugal, overthrew the Republic and captured the power.
The plot of the work represents a narrator as a journalist which comes to Spain to observe the military events of the Civil War but is nevertheless involved in the struggle. This corresponds to the real events which took place in George Orwell’s life. The narrator feels the overall spirit of revolution dominating in Spain and enters a militia unit of POUM (Partido Obrero de Unificaciun Marxista) which fights against Franco’s Fascist forces. He has been a witness and a participant of the confrontation almost during the whole term of the Civil War and has got the military ranks corresponding to the British corporal, and then to the second lieutenant.
The timeline of Homage to Catalonia is limited by the dates of December 1936 and June 1937, which corresponds to the term of his participation in the Civil War. For several weeks, Orwell was a member of a local POUM militia unit; then he was transferred to another unit, the 29th Division, and fought on its side for several months.
The first chapter of the work is devoted to the description of the narrator’s first impression of military Spain and his entering the POUM unit. In the second chapter, Orwell’s unit arrives at Alcubierre and then at Zaragora. The author describes the terrible weaponry of the militiamen. He also recollects the first bullet which has almost hit him. After a few weeks, in the fourth chapter, Orwell and another Englishman, Williams, are sent to another division.
They cross 50 miles to reach Huesca, where the narrator spends ten days in a hospital with a wounded hand. After that, in April 1937, he participates in several military operations described in chapters five and six. Later, in chapter 8, Orwell comes back to Barcelona after more than 3 months of being at the front. He joins the International Column and goes to the Madrid Front. By this time, his political view has changed.
The ninth chapter depicts the event of 3 May 1937 in Barcelona, a street fighting, where the narrator takes part. After spending some time in hospitals, being declared medically unfit, Orwell comes back to Barcelona and finds out that the members of POUM have been arrested. He is also in danger of being arrested; however, he tries to free unit commander Georges Kopp. When his attempt has failed, Orwell and his wife leave Spain and escape to France.
The author has constructed his work as a journalist chronicle; however, he focuses not only on the events of the warfare themselves but shows them through the prism of his own perception. Orwell makes his narration very private, noticing slight details around him and giving their estimation, as well as describing his personal emotions. In the chapters of the book, he alternates the description of events with reflecting his attitudes and expectations.
It is difficult to find some main characters in Homage to Catalonia. The narrator remains the protagonist, while the other characters are just the elements of the reportage, which replace each other. Among the most significant figures are an Englishman Williams, his Spanish wife and her brother; an ironic Belgian Georges Kopp, a commander of a military unit, who called the war “a comic opera with an occasional death.” (Orwell)
It is necessary to pay special attention to the language used in Homage to Catalonia. Orwell makes his narration very bright and visualized. Describing the details is not unusual for the journalist chronicles; however, Orwell’s work is more than the reportage on the events of the warfare: it seems to be a picture drawn by means of words.
It is possible to say that such visualization is common to the Spanish literature and the whole Hispanic culture: we can remember the bright symbols of Lorca’s poems, such as oranges, blue walls, and a Gypsy woman’s white hair; the expressive images of Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, and Carmen which inspired many painters; finally, it is sufficient to think about Marquez’s short stories or the depictions of nature and the seaside by Hemingway who spent much time in Spain and was influenced by its spirit. Accidentally or on purpose, in Homage to Catalonia, Orwell also follows this Hispanic tradition and provides colorfully detailed pictures of military Spain.
He depicts the tumbledown dusty cities “decorated” with red and black revolutionary flags and many-colored posters, the dull colors of foul weather and slush in the miserable Spanish villages, the appearance of the soldiers’ uniforms. This is a quote from the work, where Orwell manages to describe the Aragon villages by a few big strokes, “They are built like fortresses, a mass of mean little houses of mud and stone huddling around the church, and even in spring, you see hardly a flower anywhere…It was vile weather, with alternate mist and rain. The narrow earth roads had been churned into a sea of mud…” (Orwell) These pictures help a reader to feel the spirit of the events described by the author.
Another peculiarity of the author’s narration is his ability to make precise remarks about events around him. He describes the tints of relations between the people, which have been influenced significantly by warfare. Orwell says that this confrontation has leveled the difference in people’s hierarchy and has set some specific connection between them, “It was as though his spirit and mine had momentarily succeeded in bridging the gulf of language and tradition and meeting in utter intimacy.” (Orwell)
Thus, Orwell does not limit his narration by a dry description of the Civil War events; he provides an insight into the core of the political confrontation, reflects the spirit of this time, and observes the changes which the War has brought into the people’s life.
Bibliography
Orwell, George. Homage to Catalonia. Gutenberg.net.au. Project Gutenberg Australia. 2002. Web. Web.