Literature: Homage to Catalonia
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
Homage to Catalonia provides examples of:
- Anarchy Is Chaos: Averted. Anarchist Catalonia is portrayed largely favourably, and while the situation in Spain is hardly in a condition that an outside observer might qualify as order, Orwell makes it clear that this is due to it being in a state of civil war rather than due to it being in a state of anarchy. The POUM troops may be a Ragtag Band of Misfits but they are also quick to stand up for one another. The opening pages of the book portray what conditions are like in Catalonia away from the trenches and they are anything but chaotic.
- Author Tract: Orwell loved this trope; this book is no exception.
- Child Soldiers: The party militias included many underage boys. Orwell notes that they were quite useless as soldiers, since they couldn't stand the sleep deprivation that was inevitable in trench warfare.
- 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'.
- Graffiti of the Resistance: Orwell described doing this himself, writing "Visca P.O.U.M.!" on walls in Barcelona after the P.O.U.M.'s suppression.
- Home by Christmas: A general commanding the Government troops after the fall of Siétamo proclaimed that "Tomorrow we'll have coffee in Huesca." Months of brutal fighting in the city in question disproved the general's proclamation.
- 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".
- To clarify: In Spanish-as-spoken-in-Spain, there are two forms of the second person: the formal "usted" and the more casual "tú", and the usage of one or the other also affects how verbs are declined and other pronouns are used. The Catalonian anarchists favored usage of the latter as being less class-based.
- 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 1984, 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 emphasizes 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.
- Witch Hunt: What the Soviet-backed Communists unleashed against the POUM.