Quote by George Orwell

He thought with a kind of astonishment of the biological uselessness of pain and fear, the treachery of the human body which always freezes into inertia at exactly the moment when a special effort is needed. He might have silenced the dark-haired girl if only he had acted quickly enough; but precisely because of the extremity of danger he had lost the power to act. It struck him that in moments of crisis one is never fighting against an external enemy but always against one's own body. Even now, in spite of the gin, the dull ache in his belly made consecutive thought impossible. And it is the same, he percieved, in all seemingly heroic or tragic situatuions. On the battlefield, in the torture chamber, on a sinking ship, the issues that you are fighting for are always forgotten, because the body swells up until it fills the universe, and even when you are not paralyzed by fright or screaming with pain, life is a moment-to-moment struggle against hunger or cold or sleeplessness, against a sour stomach or an aching tooth.

Summary

This quote highlights the perplexity of the protagonist as he contemplates the biological responses of pain and fear. Despite their lack of usefulness in certain situations, he realizes that the body instinctively succumbs to inertia precisely when it should be mobilizing. This leads him to a realization that in moments of crisis, the main adversary one faces is not an external enemy, but rather the limitations and vulnerabilities of their own body. Even in supposedly heroic or tragic circumstances, basic bodily needs and discomforts become all-consuming, overshadowing the larger issues at hand. The quote emphasizes the universal struggle to survive and endure amidst physical challenges and the relentless demands of the body.