THE SPORTING SPIRIT by GEORGE ORWELL 1. GEORGE ORWELL (1903-1950) WAS THE PEN NAME OF ERIC ARTHUR BLAIR. HE WAS BORN IN MOTIHARI, BENGAL, IN INDIA . HIS FATHER, RICHARD WALMESLEY BLAIR WAS A CIVIL SERVANT OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. 2. HE JOINED THE INDIAN IMPERIAL POLICE AND WAS POSTED IN BURMA, WHERE HE WORKED FROM 1922 TO 1927. LATER HE WENT BACK TO ENGLAND AND BECAME A PROFESSIONAL WRITER. 3.TWO OF HIS NOVELS, ‘ANIMAL’, A POLITICAL ALLEGORY, AND ‘1984’ BECAME QUITE FAMOUS AND ARE READ AND ADMIRED EVEN TODAY. ZX

INTRODUCTION TO THE ESSAY 1. IN ‘THE SPORTING SPIRIT’ GEORGE ORWELL TRIES TO SHATTER THE MYTH THAT SPORTS ARE AN IMPORTANT MEANS TO BUILD FRIENDLY RELATIONS BETWEEN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. 2. ACCORDING TO HIM, IT IS THE OTHER WAY ROUND BECAUSE PEOPLE BEGIN TO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES WITH THEIR OWN NATIONAL TEAMS AND WANT THEM TO WIN. IF THEY SEEM TO LOSE, THE SPECTATORS BECOME HOSTILE TO THE VISITING TEAM. 3. THIS LEADS TO, ANIMOSITY, HATRED, JEALOUSY AND JINGOISM. SO INSTEAD OF PROMOTING GOOD RELATIONS, SPORTS MANY A TIME LEAD TO ILL-WILL BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES.

SUMMARY OF THE ESSAY 1. ORWELL BEGINS BY REFERRING TO THE VISIT OF THE DYNAMO FOOTBALL TEAM FROM RUSSIA, WHICH HAD THE VERY OPPOSITE OF THE DESIRED EFFECT. THE VISIT PROVED THAT SPORT IS AN UNFAILING CAUSE OF ILL-WILL AND THAT IF SUCH VISITS HAD ANY EFFECT AT ALL ON THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SOVIET UNION AND ENGLAND, IT WAS ONLY TO MAKE THEM WORSE THEN EVER BEFORE. 2. THERE WAS THE CONTROVERSY ABOUT THE COMPOSITION OF THE ARSENAL TEAM. THE BRITISH CLAIMED THAT IT WAS ONLY A LEAGUE TEAM, WHEREAS THE RUSSIANS CLAIMED THAT IT WAS AN ALL-ENGLAND TEAM. THERE IS ALSO THE QUESTION WHETHER THE DYNAMOS CUT SHORT THEIR TOUR BECAUSE THEY WERE AFRAID OF FACING AN ALL –ENGLAND TEAM.

3. IT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN OTHERWISE 3. IT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN OTHERWISE. THE WRITER IS ALWAYS AMAZED WHEN SOMEONE TELLS HIM THAT SPORTS CREATE GOOD RELATIONS BETWEEN COUNTRIES. IT IS ARGUED THAT IF PEOPLE FROM TWO COUNTRIES COULD MEET ON THE PLAYGROUND, THERE WOULD BE NO NEED TO MEET ON THE BATTLEFILED. 4. THERE IS THE CONCRETE EXAMPLE OF THE 1936 OLYMPIC GAMES WHICH LED TO ORGIES OF HATRED. THE REAL REASON UNDERLYING THIS SITUATION IS THAT SPORTS HAVE BECOME QUITE COMPETITIVE NOW-A-DAYS. THE AIM TODAY IS TO WIN, AND THE GAME DOES NOT MEAN ANYTHING IF NOT WINNING. 5. AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL, SPORT IS A KIND OF MIMIC WAR BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES. BUT THE IMPORTANT THING IS NOT THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE PLAYERS BUT THAT OF THE SPECTATORS, WHO WORK THEMSELVES UP INTO FURIES OVER THESE ABSURD CONTESTS.

6. EVEN A LEISURELY GAME LIKE TEST CRICKET CAN CAUSE ILL-WILL, AS WAS WITNESSED IN THE MATCHES BETWEEN ENGLAND AND AUSTRALIA IN 1921. 7. FOOTBALL, IN WHICH EVERY COUNTRY HAS ITS OWN STYLE WHICH SEEMS UNFAIR TO FOREIGNERS, IS MUCH WORSE. 8. THE WORST OF ALL SPORTS IS BOXING, ESPECIALLY WHEN ONE BOXER IS A WHITE AND THE OTHER A BLACK. THE BEHAVIOUR OF BOXING SPECTATORS IS SO BAD, BUT STRANGE THOUGH IT MAY SEEM, THE BEHAVIOUR OF WOMEN AMONG THEM IS WORSE. THAT IS WHY ARMY DOES NOT ALLOW WOMEN TO WATCH ITS BOXING CONTESTS. 9. IN ENGLAND, THE OBSESSION WITH SPORTS IS BAD. BUT IN YOUNG COUNTRIES IN WHICH NATIONALISM AND SPORTS ARE A RECENT PHENOMENON, SPORTS AROUSE FIERCER PASSIONS. 10. IN BOTH INDIA AND BURMA, FOR EXAMPLE, IT IS NECESSARY TO HAVE STRONG CORDONS OF POLICE TO PREVENT THE CROWD FROM ENTERING THE GROUND.

11. THE FIRST FOOTBALL MATCH PLAYED IN SPAIN LED TO AN UNCONTROLLABLE RIOT. AS SOON AS NATIONALISTIC FEELINGS ARE AROUSED, THE RULES OF FAIR PLAY ARE FORGOTTEN. PEOPLE WANT TO SEE THEIR TEAM ON THE TOP, NO MATTER HOW THEY REACH THE TOP. 12. IT IS WORTHWHILE TO INQUIRE HOW THE MODERN CULT OF SPORTS CAME INTO BEING. IT IS TRUE THAT MOST OF THE GAMES PLAYED TODAY HAD THEIR ORIGIN IN ANCIENT TIMES. BUT SPORTS DO NOT SEEM TO HAVE BEEN TAKEN SERIOUSLY IN EUROPE UNTIL THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 13. DR. ARNOLD, THE FOUNDER OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM, DID NOT ATTACH ANY IMPORTANCE TO SPORTS. 14. IT IS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA THAT GAMES BEGAN TO BE FUNDED HEAVILY AND BEGAN TO ATTRACT LARGE CROWDS ROUSING SAVAGE PASSIONS. 15. IT IS THE MOST COMBATIVE SPORTS, BOXING AND FOOTBALL, WHICH HAVE SPREAD EVERYWHERE AND VERY FAST.

16. IT IS TRUE THAT THE WHOLE THING IS BOUND UP WITH NATIONALISM-THAT IS THE MODERN HABIT OF IDENTIFYING ONESELF WITH LARGE POWER UNITS AND SEEING EVERYTHING IN TERMS OF COMPETITIVE PRESTIGE. 17. IF ONE WANTS TO CREATE A “ VAST FUND OF ILL WILL” IN THE WORLD, ONE COULD DO SO BY A SERIES OF FOOTBALL MATCHES BETWEEN JEWS AND ARABS, GERMANS AND CZECHS, INDIANS AND BRITISH, RUSSIANS AND POLES AND LET THESE MATCHES BE WATCHED BY A MIXED AUDIENCE OF 100,000 PEOPLE. IT IS NOT THAT SPORT IS ONE OF THE MAIN CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL RIVALRY. 18. AS A MATTER OF FACT, SPORT IS THE EFFECT OF THE CAUSES THAT HAVE PRODUCED NATIONALISM. WHAT IS BAD, IN FACT, IS TO SEND A TEAM OF ELEVEN MEN, LABEL THEM AS NATIONAL CHAMPIONS TO PLAY AGAINST A RIVAL TEAM, AND THEN MAKE WINNING AN ISSUE OF NATIONAL PRESTIGE. SO IT WOULD BE BETTER NOT TO SEND AN ALL –ENGLAND TEAM TO THE SOVIET UNION. LET IT BE A SECOND-RATE TEAM WHICH IS LIKELY TO BE DEFEATED AND WHICH CANNOT BE CALLED A BRITISH TEAM. THERE ARE MANY CAUSES OF TROUBLE BETWEEN COUNTRIES. SO IT IS BETTER IF SPORTS DO NOT BECOME A MEANS OF INCREASING THEM.