Churchill and Orwell

by Thomas E. Ricks

There are two points to be made here. First, sensitivity to odor is a tic of much of his writing. Second, and more unsettling, it is the smell of humanity that repels him. When he notes the smells of nature, even of the barnyard, it is almost always with approval. In contrast, he is always ready to be horrified by mankind.

As for those who worried about the mob looting in the streets, he responded that “the mob is in fact loose now—and in the shape of rich men.” In other words, in Orwell’s view, the wealthy were waging class warfare, looting from the poor, but they just were not admitting it.