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Hakan Y lmaz
overall effect . . . is like the babble of
a lot of people in one space, the so-called ‘cocktail party
effect’ where everything is a blur except what you choose to concentrate on” (p.117).
Nonetheless, it is almost impossible to pick one particular voice among the others for they are
constantly undercut by each other. Therefore, though Orwell disdained modernist devices, he
himself employed a very modernist device, that is, dramatic sequence, in this novel, and in
fact this experimental part was the only thing he liked about this novel, as he expressed it in
one of his letters to his friend Brenda Salkald: “
A Clergyman’s Daughter is tripe, except for
chap 3, part 1” (as cited in Hammond, 2000, p. 33). Through the end of the chapter, Dorothy
is rescued by his father’s cousin and finds a job as a schoolmistress.
After having witnessed such an experimental part, we are all of a sudden thrown into a
Dickensian world in the fourth chapter which deals with the education system and the
conditions of the schools in general. Dorothy begins to work under the headmistress of the
school Mrs. Creevy at Ringowood School. Orwell also critiques the educational methodology
and the limited scope of the education offered to children. By analogy, Valerie Meyers points
out that “Orwell . . . follows Dickens in his portrayal of schools. In
Nicholas Nickleby and
Hard Times Dickens attacked the schools’ neglectful and abusive treatment of children, and
satirized the content and method of teaching. Though . . .
A Clergyman’s was based on
personal experience as pupil and teacher, Orwell’s satiric targets are similar [to Dickens, and
thus have] a Dickensian flavor” (29). Such critique of the education system is (in)directly
related to the economic injustice prevalent at the time from which Orwell himself suffered as
a pupil. Mrs. Creevy in the novel gives advice to Dorothy about the pupils and her attitude
demonstrates how some pupils are dehumanized and regarded as mere commodities to make
profit from:
Well, the parents of that lot are what I call the good payers. You
know what I mean by that? They’re the ones
that pay cash on the nail
and no jibbing at an extra half-guinea or so now and again. You’re
not to smack any of that lot, not on ANY account. This lot over here
are the MEDIUM payers. Their parents do pay up sooner or later, but
you don’t get the money out of them without you worry them for it
night and day. You can smack that lot if they get saucy, but don’t
go and leave a mark their parents can see. If you’ll
take MY advice,
the best thing with children is to twist their ears. . . . Now these
three over here are the BAD payers. Their fathers are two terms
behind already, and I’m thinking of a solicitor’s letter. I don’t
care WHAT you do to that lot. (Orwell, 1997, pp.168-69)
It is apparent that the whole school system is focused on money making. The
students whose parents pay the fees timely are treated better as opposed to
the medium and bad payers. In this regard, Orwell critiques this education
system which leaves no room for the pupils to think for themselves but
rather makes them memorize bits and pieces from a number of subject matters
because the system is solely based upon profit-making. This is once more
exemplified in Mrs. Creevy’s firing Dorothy. Mrs. Creevy finds another
schoolmistress who will bring along a few pupils to her school (the more
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George Orwell and Modernism: Reflections from A Clergyman’s
Daughter
pupils are, the more money comes) if Mrs. Creevy gives her the job. Thus,
she simply throws Dorothy out.
After being fired, Dorothy packs her clothes and is about to set out
on a journey; however, all of a sudden, Mr. Warburton appears and tells her
that the gossip about her elopement has been dispelled and proved untrue
and that she can now go back to her town again. Dorothy, therefore, comes
full circle at the end of the novel by returning to Knype Hill except for a
huge difference: she has no longer faith in God. In this respect, the
prevailing theme of the first chapter is once more revived and taken up in
the last chapter. Even though the reader is still left in dark with regard
to the reasons of Dorothy’s loss of faith, the reader can at least observe
how she feels about the religious crisis she has experienced: “Beliefs
change, thoughts change, but there is some inner part of the soul that does
not change. Faith vanishes, but the need for faith remains the same as
before” (Orwell, 1997, p. 238). These lines provide the reader with a
bleak outlook since the void caused by the loss of faith cannot be filled
and the need for faith or for something to believe in cannot be eradicated
completely.
Dorothy, in the end, decides to resume her previous duties, and even
attend church service, and is resolved to pretend to be praying. Edward
Quinn (2009) argues that “the choice of living a life imbued with
Christian values, as opposed to Christian beliefs, is completely in accord
with the author’s own convictions. His agnosticism notwithstanding, Orwell
was a strong advocate of ‘religionless Christianity’” (p. 109). In this
regard, one might be inclined to believe that there is still hope for
improvement, as opposed to pessimism, in society through Christian mores,
ideals and values, if not one Supreme Being, or God. Yet, as Ricardo
Quintina (1961) states, in the novel, “there is not any suggestion of
energy working against misery and defeat” (p. 33). Dorothy’s case is a
great example to such lack of energy. Even though she has rejected her
faith, she does not display any motivation to replace the void she feels
nor attempts to improve her situation: she simply takes up again her
habitual duties previously assigned to her. Probably the only relief she
can enjoy is that she will no longer prick pins into her arms and that she
will not be anxious about her mind’s straying any more.
3.
Conclusion
Considering the various themes such as economic injustice, crisis of
religious faith, disillusionment, lack of vitality, resignation as well as
the formal experiment attempted in
A Clergyman’s Daughter, one might
contend that Orwell can be deemed, especially due to his thematically