Homage to Catolina

Theme

P.O.U.M.
When Orwell enters the Spanish Civil War, he joins the P.O.U.M., or Partido Obrero de
Unificacion Marxista (Worker's Group of Marxist Unification), a political party in Spain. Among
the various groups involved in the Spanish Civil War, the P.O.U.M. was one of the most significant
political organizations. At the end of the war, Stalinist elements in Catalonia repressed the
P.O.U.M., an extreme Leftist organization. Numerous P.O.U.M. members are arrested, go missing,
and are put to death as a result of the crackdown. By the end of the novel, Orwell had left Spain as
a result of the brutal repression. The most recent incident completely taints his memories of the
Spanish Civil War. This is how Orwell imagined a utopian society to be.

To his chagrin, these alterations have been undone when he returns to Barcelona three months
later. Class division has returned because it is necessary for an effective militia or armed force to
exist. There is a rabid mob that cannot fight without anybody being taught to be, recognized as, or
acknowledged as the leader and hence superior. Orwell does not recognize this and instead laments
the situation as it is, thinking that the Communist forces' incompetence is to blame for this abrupt
return to the status quo.

Treason or treachery
In order to fight Franco and loyalists, the Communists and POUM had formed an alliance.
However, when the loyalists seize Malaga, a crucial seaport, they appear to have prior knowledge
of the planned attack. This makes it clear to Orwell and others that the Communists betrayed the
left-wing alliance and warned the loyalists of what was to come. Both the fiction and the actual
battle include this form of betrayal as a central theme. In essence, it ought to have been a conflict
that could have been readily divided into two factions, the left and the right. Each side entered the
conflict with slightly different goals in mind, but as the conflict progressed, it became increasingly
clear that General Franco would win and each faction decided it would be more advantageous
politically and strategically to forge an alliance with him rather than their idealogical rivals. The
Communists thought that their only chance to influence the future of Spain would be to forsake
their Marxist coalition since Franco would only negotiate with one of the factions.

Military Ignorance
The POUM and their allies are not the best-equipped or best-trained military forces in the world.
Their firearms were so rusty and nearly antique—over a century old—that they could hardly shoot.
Little strategic knowledge was present. When Orwell first saw his unit, he observed that they were
teaching boys how to perform male tasks and that the boys didn't know why they were fighting.
The left-wing coalition found it nearly hard to win the battle from the start since they lacked the
fundamentals in every aspect of combat, including strategy, equipment, and understanding the goal
of the exercise.

Increasing political skepticism

Orwell gained a feeling of political cynicism from his experiences, which was evident in his later
writings, particularly in his novel Animal Farm. In Animal Farm, he makes the remark that "all
animals are equal, but some are more equal than others," which he had previously taken to mean
that the Communists treated the working masses more equitably than the Fascists or mainstream
parties did. He is undoubtedly dejected, and his dejectedness is heightened by the fact that he had
such unwavering faith in the Soviet system prior to the conflict. This disappointment develops into
political cynicism; the book is brutal in its criticism of the Communists' actions and their treatment
of POUM; it is as brutal in its description of the Fascists' treatment of the POUM leadership, who
were shot without a trial. By the end of the book, he comes to the conclusion that the result of the
war would have been different if the Spanish communists had been more equipped and prepared
since they might not have been as dependent on Russia.