Why Orwell Still Matters

The culture war between George Orwell and the left is soon to enter its tenth decade, and the newest salvo has just been launched. In a Financial Times (FT) article entitled “How George Orwell Became a Dead Metaphor,” Naoise Dolan bemoans the legions of “Orwell fans” who overpraise Orwell and reduce him to a “dead metaphor” like those he disparaged in “Politics and the English Language.” Of course, Orwell is not innocent here, Dolan adds, but has invited the recurrent waves of “Orwellmania” since his death.