What Makes Help Helpful? Some Thoughts on Ethics of Solidarity Through George Orwell’s Writings

Abstract

Organisations that offer personal services, whether this be a law firm or a hospital, may be extremely good at offering technical solutions to people, but when it comes to offering recognition, this is much more of a challenge. These institutions often lack the ability to ‘be respectful of each individual’. Recognition is a central topic –often overseen– in the works of George Orwell, the English journalist and writer who, after taking part in the colonial system for five years, decided to ‘expiate his guilt’ by consecutively becoming homeless, taking part in agricultural labor, writing on the living conditions of the English working class and fighting as a militiaman in the Republican side during the Spanish Civil War. It was a process that spanned over several years, in which a well-educated, intellectually brilliant person, confronted and interacted with people of different countries and social backgrounds. The paper examines both failed and successful recognition experiences in Orwell’s life and work, hoping to draw some insights in how recognition works in practice. The analysis reveals two dramatic points and leads to a pessimistic conclusion: the first point, already presented in the first part of the article, is that without recognition, no act of help will be really helpful. And secondly, real recognition only takes place between individuals. Which leads the author to conclude, confirming the initial suggestion of the paper, that full help cannot be given by any standardized procedure, and depends almost exclusively on the ability, commitment and willingness of individuals.