Politics and the Imagination: Reflections on George Orwell's 'Inside the Whale'

Ian McEwan · by 18 Jan 2022

Ian McEwan did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Solitude is one of civilisation's great luxuries, and our enslavement to the internet is making it scarce.

Their wordsSolitude is one of the great luxuries of civilisation. It has become, by our own careless volition, by our elective enslavement to the wonders of the internet - a shrinking asset.
Our reading
With face recognition and similar technology, China might perfect the Orwellian totalitarian state and offer a rival model to liberal democracy.

Their wordsNow the technology - face recognition software and the rest - is on hand, China might perfect the Orwellian totalitarian state and offer a new model of social organization to compete with or replace liberal democracies
Our reading
Freedom of expression is becoming a diminishing privilege around the world.

Their wordsThen, a matter of vital concern to writers and readers: globally, freedom of expression is becoming a diminishing privilege.
Our reading
Even if all greenhouse emissions stopped tomorrow, the world has already started to become different.

Their wordsEven if all CO2 and methane emissions were to cease tomorrow morning, there is inertia in the process and our natural and man-made world is going to be, has started to be, different.
Our reading
Writers who refuse to tell readers what to think, and write about love, childhood or frogs, must keep the freedom to do so.

Their wordsAll writers like Basho who choose the belly of the whale, who refuse to tell us what they think, or what we should think, who wish to celebrate or investigate love, childhood, Boys' Weeklies, frogs or the delights of close attention to one or two details - they must have their freedom to do so.

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The other pieces are the ones whose claims are worded most like this one's. That measures language, not agreement: they may argue the opposite.