Homage to Catalonia

by

George Orwell

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Homage to Catalonia makes teaching easy.

Bob Smillie Character Analysis

A fellow Englishman in the POUM militia. Orwell considers twenty-two-year-old Smillie one of the strongest, most talented fighters he has met in the war. Arrested in Valencia on spurious charges, he is kept incommunicado and, ultimately, dies in prison from appendicitis, an ordinary illness left untreated. Orwell is outraged at the senselessness of this death. To him, Smillie becomes a symbol of the cruelty of political persecution.

Bob Smillie Quotes in Homage to Catalonia

The Homage to Catalonia quotes below are all either spoken by Bob Smillie or refer to Bob Smillie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Possibility of Revolution  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 12 Quotes

Smillie’s death is not a thing I can easily forgive. Here was this brave and gifted boy, who had thrown up his career at Glasgow University in order to come and fight against Fascism, and who, as I saw for myself had done his job at the front with faultless courage and willingness; and all they could find to do with him was to fling him into jail and let him die like a neglected animal.

Related Characters: George Orwell (speaker), Bob Smillie
Page Number: 179
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Homage to Catalonia LitChart as a printable PDF.
Homage to Catalonia PDF

Bob Smillie Quotes in Homage to Catalonia

The Homage to Catalonia quotes below are all either spoken by Bob Smillie or refer to Bob Smillie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Possibility of Revolution  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 12 Quotes

Smillie’s death is not a thing I can easily forgive. Here was this brave and gifted boy, who had thrown up his career at Glasgow University in order to come and fight against Fascism, and who, as I saw for myself had done his job at the front with faultless courage and willingness; and all they could find to do with him was to fling him into jail and let him die like a neglected animal.

Related Characters: George Orwell (speaker), Bob Smillie
Page Number: 179
Explanation and Analysis: