George Orwell’s essay “Politics and the English Language” was published in 1946 in the literary magazine Horizon. Though modern considerations of Orwell more often focus on his novels—especially Animal Farm and 1984—his contemporaries knew him better as an essayist and literary critic. “Politics and the English Language” is regarded as one of his most influential works of criticism for its analysis of the vague and overly complicated rhetoric that suffused the post-World War II political landscape. Orwell’s oeuvre focuses heavily on the dangers posed by authoritarianism, and in “Politics” he expresses the belief that language manipulation is a powerful tool in the arsenal of tyranny. Using examples pulled from other contemporary works and speeches, Orwell demonstrates the ways in which imprecise language obscures meaning—both intentionally and unintentionally—and offers solutions for writing more sincere and straightforward prose.