Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Two Winstons

I found this chapter of “History of Britain” to be a lot more enjoyable than the last. The comparison of Winston Churchill and George Orwell at first surprised me, but then I found myself seeing and looking for ways that they were alike. I found it fascinating that two people that were polar opposites had so much in common. In my mind both Orwell and Churchill were so alike because they both lived their history. When Orwell wanted to write “Road to Wigan Road”, he went out and experienced the coal mines and he threw himself into his research, experiencing what the characters in the book were experiencing. Winston Churchill did the same when he was fired from the position of First Lord of the Admiralty; he joined the front line and fought in the trenches during World War One. Both men reinvented themselves throughout their lifetimes. In the end of their lives they both outgrew their own godlike lives. Orwell escaped it, while Churchill embraced it. The two Winstons opened my eyes to the real people of the real people, not just the godlike figures.

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