The thing that drove Dickens forward into a form of art for which he was not really suited, and at the same time caused us to remember him, was simply the fact that he was a moralist, the consciousness of “having something to say.” He is always preaching a sermon, and that is the final secret of his inventiveness. For you can only create if you can care.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1939), “Charles Dickens,” sec. 6, Inside the Whale (1940-03-11)
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/orwell-george/74800/
!["O! it was a cruel apathy that could stand and witness such a monstrous perversion of human power and religious toleration ! — the more I muse on it my accusations become the more poignant. I stood by the [immolating] pile while the gloomy tragedy was performed, and never can I banish the screams which pierced the ears of the spectators."](https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/520/630/888/571/612/original/1f4033994c2bc37b.png "\"O! it was a cruel apathy that could stand and witness such a monstrous perversion of human power and religious toleration ! — the more I muse on it my accusations become the more poignant. I stood by the [immolating] pile while the gloomy tragedy was performed, and never can I banish the screams which pierced the ears of the spectators.\"")
