George Orwell's I Have A Dream Speech

Language is the most important manner to create and behold power in politics.

Politicians are often known for their powerful speeches. The ‘I have a dream…’ speech by Martin Luther King Jr. is famous all around the globe, and by extension, he is, too. The speech presented Martin Luther King Jr. with a kind of immortality. The current president of the United States of America, Barack Obama, is also recognized for his public speaking skills. His glittering generality ‘Yes we can!’ is catchy, attractive, and appealing.

In 1946, George Orwell stated: "In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible." In his essay 'Politics and the English Language ' he elaborates upon this statement by acclaiming that politicians purposely make use of vague and inexact words in order to deceive their audience. The politicians in question do so because using imprecise words and phrases allows people to interpret what the speaker is saying as cruel or as pleasant as they wish to. For example, saying that one is a proponent of the enhanced interrogation program of the United States sounds a lot less harmful than saying that one supports torture. This is structurally done in political statements, speeches and campaigns. They have pacified instead of bombed, they are liberating instead of invading, or troops came upon friendly fire instead of troops were bombed by their own allies. These alternate phrases, these euphemisms, make the inexcusable appear to be