Reflections on Gandhi

“Reflections on Gandhi” sees Orwell grapple with Gandhi’s principal of non-violence, or Satyagraha ("holding on to the truth"), as a political tool.

In this insightful and politically powerful essay, Orwell attempts to evaluate non-violence as a method of political leverage outside of the unique circumstances in which Gandhi successfully deployed his method. He discusses the particular context that gave Satyagraha political force: the struggle for national self-determination in colonial India, and looks to Gandhi’s method as a reference for what he feels is a necessary discussion of alternative methods of political resistance.