Comment on and Analyse How the Writer’s Choices of Structure, Form and Language Shape Meaning in ‘Homage to Catalonia’

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Comment on and analyse how the writer’s choices of structure, form and language shape meaning. The terms used by Orwell in his passage from ‘Homage to Catalonia’; “no man’s land”, “Fascists” and “Spaniard” could signal the fact that Orwell had written about his experiences during the time of the Spanish Civil War. In this passage from 'Homage to Catalonia' Orwell describes the terrible conditions that he had to endure whilst fighting on the front line. Where Orwell was stationed, everything appeared to have been static most of the time, there was no artillery to speak of, both sides had ancient, inaccurate guns (contributing to the fact that he could not hit anyone), and there was little hope of any decisive action. From historical facts, Life during the war was mostly an effort to stay warm and awake, with sprinklings of ineffectual long-range fire and attempts to scavenge the deserted countryside for food and firewood. When Orwell finally sees (or receives) brief intense action, he describes the chaos and strange comedy of the event that occurred in his ditch. “I am a very poor shot with a rifle. But it was rather fun, the Fascists did not know where the shots were coming from.” Here, we find the very first example as to how Orwell appears abnormally different to the ‘average soldier’. This line suggests that war appears as just a ‘game’ to Orwell, it didn’t seem to matter ‘who’ was injured or killed through his point of view, as long as he was enjoying himself. Presuming, Orwell and many others had joined up in the POUM militia to fight against the forces of “Fascism” (for this was how he saw the situation at that time, his knowledge seems to be mainly based on English newspaper reports). For Orwell to keep referring to his opposition as “Fascists” could resemble a sign of ‘dislike’ for them and their ideology- which was to unify their nation based on

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