Homage to Catalonia
| Written by: | George Orwell |
|---|---|
| Central Theme: | |
| Synopsis: | The author's experiences during the Spanish Civil War |
| First published: | April 1938 |
Homage to Catalonia is George Orwell's account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War. He describes fighting as a militiaman on the side of the Republicans, as well as the gradual erosion of the Anarchist revolution in Catalonia and the power struggle between various factions on the Republican side. It may well be the most famous book about the Spanish Civil War, and is widely praised for its Brutal Honesty.
Tropes used in Homage to Catalonia include:
- Author Tract: Orwell loved this trope; this book is no exception.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: The Communist high command.
- Commie Land: Catalonia, although its organization was more along anarchist lines.
- Eagle Squadron: The many international volunteers, including Orwell himself, who came to Spain to fight for The Republic.
- Everybody Smokes: Shortage of cigarettes is often brought up as a major hardship of war. Orwell even refers to it as a 'tobacco famine'.
- I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: Orwell's comrades weren't exactly big on Gun Safety - even after seeing this trope in effect.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Everyone in Spain, according to Orwell. 'In this war, everyone always did miss everyone else, when it was humanly possible.' It saved his life on several occasions.
- Language Equals Thought: The leftists refused to use ceremonial forms of address, preferring to simply call each other "thou" or "comrade".
- On another level, the politically motivated distortions of the truth found on all sides of the war.
- Orwellian Editor: The horrible distortions of the truth which Orwell witnessed in Spain are the Trope Maker - they inspired the constant rewriting of the past in Nineteen Eighty-Four, which in turn named this trope.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The various party militias on the Republican side. Orwell describes the POUM militia, in which he served, as a particularly Egregious example of this trope - an untrained, scruffy-looking band, partly composed of teenage boys whose enthusiasm was decidedly greater than their common sense.
- Red Scare: Inverted - various "Red" factions accused each other of not being Red enough. Communist propaganda even accused the POUM of plotting with Franco, a "Brown Scare" if you will.
- The Republic: Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: Propaganda was common on all sides, something Orwell is careful to note.
- War Is Hell: Played with. The chapters about the trench warfare on the Aragon front don't fit this trope, but not War Is Glorious, either; rather, Orwell describes it as boring and stale. He repeatedly emphasises that there was hardly any action, and that everyone was more concerned about food and firewood than about the enemy.
- Was It All a Lie?: After the betrayal by the Stalinists.
- We ARE Struggling Together!: Communists and Anarchists.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: The Republicans, especially the international volunteers. Orwell himself averts this trope, hard.
- Witch Hunt: What the Soviet-backed Communists unleashed against the POUM.