'Marrakech' (1939) by George Orwell

George Orwell’s travelogue essay 'Marrakech' is a shocking description of life under European imperialism.

The colonial enterprise, Orwell tells us, is predicated on not seeing as fully human those whom we subjugate. If we did, we would have to reckon not only with their misery but with our complicity in their subjugation and misery.

This Orwell essay argues for the critical role of 'Marrakech,' and literary journalism in general, in the shift from the ethnocentrism that underpins colonization abroad and domestic oppression at home, to recognition of our common humanity.

Orwell depicts the brutal oppression of the native population in Morocco who are exploited by the French colonial Empire.

Through his powerful use of anecdote and imagery, Orwell reveals the poverty and discrimination caused by the failures of imperialism and predicts its inevitable ending. His honest and upfront reflections
move the reader emotionally and highlight the devastating loss of identity and abuse of the indigenous population.