24 pages 48 minutes read

George Orwell

Such, Such Were the Joys

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1952

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Essay Topics

1.

Why does Orwell open the essay with a highly personal account of his bed-wetting incident while a student at St Cyprian’s? How does this scene establish Orwell as a reliable narrator?

2.

The author claims that it was “impossible” to adhere to St Cyprian’s doctrine to “be at once a Christian and a social success” (391). What does Orwell mean by this?

3.

Why does the young Orwell feel such a keen sense of hatred toward people he acknowledges as his “benefactors”? What is it about their form of charity that so enrages him?