A good-tempered antinomianism rather of Dickens’s type is one of the marks of Western popular culture. One sees it in folkstories and comic songs, in dream-figures like Mickey Mouse and Pop-eye the Sailor (both of them variants of Jack the Giant-killer), in the history of working-class Socialism, in the popular protests (always ineffective but not always a sham) against imperialism, in the impulse that makes a jury award excessive damages when a rich man’s car runs over a poor man; it is the feeling that one is always on the side of the underdog, on the side of the weak against the strong.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1939), “Charles Dickens,” sec. 6, Inside the Whale (1940-03-11)
    (Source)

Orwell frequently used the term "antinomianism," representing defiance of social mores and rules.

 
Added on 28-Feb-25 | Last updated 28-Feb-25
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Orwell, George

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *