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About this quote

What does it mean?
Orwell is depicted as finding moral implications in even the most trivial daily actions.
In plain terms
Orwell sees deep moral meaning in simple things like blowing his nose.
What can you take from it?
Small actions often reflect broader moral conditions.

Where it applies

  • literary criticism
  • social analysis
  • personal reflection

Putting it to work

  • notice details
  • reflect on habits

Questions to consider

  • Do small acts matter morally?
  • What is the role of daily life?

Another view

It may caricature his serious intent as excessive moralizing.

More from George Orwell

  1. What he feared most was the blind spot between us and the future, the space between identities where we could get lost forever.

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  2. Old George Orwell got it backward. Big Brother isn't watching. He's singing and dancing. He's pulling rabbits out of a hat. Big Brother's holding your attentio…

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  3. Though he was a strong believer in individual difference and came to fear, above all, the thought that people would become interchangeable parts in a totalitar…

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