Orwell's Roses

How did war affect Orwell, according to Solnit? How did war influence Orwell’s observations and writing?

Choose one of Orwell’s best-known works of fiction: Animal Farm or Nineteen Eighty-Four; how does Solnit’s exploration of Orwell’s motivations and beliefs inform your understanding of his novel? What nuances wouldn’t be obvious without the context Solnit offers?

How are natural landscapes and gardens products of cultural and political forces? What does a natural landscape or a garden symbolize? What are the tensions between their aesthetic value and their political valence?

How are writing and nature linked? Why did Orwell plant a garden, according to Solnit? How did his interaction with nature impact his style of writing?

How does Solnit describe the tension between the aesthetic beauty of roses and their problematic ugliness? In what context do roses relinquish their beauty? How is this linked to writing or other forms of artistic creation?

Why does Solnit follow the story of “Orwell’s roses” rather than “Orwell’s fruit trees”? How does she interpret his work in contrast to the prevailing view?

How did totalitarianism in general and Stalin’s regime in particular influence Orwell’s work? How did these historical forces impact the politics and the language of the early and mid-20th century?

What is the effect of the numerous juxtapositions in Solnit’s part titles (“The Prophet and the Hedgehog,” “Bread and Roses,” “Snow and Ink,” etc.)? How do these juxtapositions relate to Orwell’s work?