Quote or Learn Churchill: The Darkest Hour

With a cigar in hand and the iconic ‘V for Victory’ gesture, World War II British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill is undeniably one of the most influential figures in world history. Over the years, many films about Churchill were produced but almost all chose to depict his role in military campaigns or during the London Blitz, instead of retelling the story of how he struggled to gain support from his King and colleagues in Parliament in the early days of his premiership. ‘Darkest Hour’, with Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman playing Churchill, fills the gap by giving a semi-fictitious portrayal of how the great man dealt with the ‘negotiate or suffer’ dilemma, and how he relied on the power of words to motivate and unite a divided Parliament and a nation in despair. In fact, it is in part a story of how Churchill, as American broadcaster Edward Murrow later recounted, “mobilized the English language and sent it into battle”.

Born the grandson of a Duke, Churchill studied in the best schools that the British education system then had to offer. He was not, by any standard, a good student as he constantly misbehaved and had poor academic performance (except in History); yet, his great love for the English Language never wavered throughout his life. In his youth, Churchill often visited the House of Commons and heard parliamentarians give their speeches, while also studying the speeches of historical figures; when fighting at the frontline the Empire’s wars as a young army officer, he often asked his mother to send him crates of books to read in his spare time and wrote articles for newspapers, reporting on battles and chronicling his daring escape from a prisoner of war transport; after World War II, he went on to author the critically acclaimed six-volume book ‘The Second World War’ which won him the Nobel Prize for Literature. Equipped with such devotion to and thus, deep understanding of English, Churchill wrote and gave some of the most memorable speeches in history in spite of his occasional stammering and difficulty in pronouncing words starting with ‘s’, mesmerizing generations to come.

Three of these speeches were partly re-delivered by Gary Oldman in the film: (1) the ‘blood, toil, tears and sweat’ speech in his first House of Commons meeting as Prime Minister;

(2) the speech delivered to his Outer Cabinet ending with “If this long island story of ours is to end at last, let it end only when each one of us lies choking in his own blood upon the ground”, which received standing applause and strengthened his resolve to reject any proposals for negotiation; and

(3) the ‘we shall never surrender’ speech given in the House of Commons after meeting with the Outer Cabinet, and later broadcast to the nation (a first in British history), signifying the beginning of full-fledged British resistance against the fascist threat.

All of them, like many of his other speeches, were remarkable in the sense that Churchill personally wrote and revised them till perfection instead of being written by ‘ghostwriters’ behind the scene, a common practice adopted by high-ranking officials, politicians and public figures alike. They were also written in the typical Churchillian style—begin by laying out the

bare, cold facts, transition into illustrating the challenges that the nation would face, then end with expressions of optimism and imperial patriotism, and a motivational ‘call for action’ delivered with great force. This is particularly evident in the ‘we shall never surrender’ speech, in which Churchill first ‘reported’ on the plight of Europe in general and Allied troops stranded in Dunkirk in particular against the relentless Nazi advance and the British response to play on his audience’s emotions, before finally moving on to reaffirming his commitment to the defence of Britain and directly engaging his audience (Parliamentarians and the British public) at the same time with a brilliant use of repetition—

“……, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender……”

Churchill’s view on public speaking and writing was simple, that is to inspire and to persuade—to put forward your own views and reasoning with force, ‘whacking’ them into the hearts and minds of your listeners and readers: “If you have an important point to make, don' try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack.”

This British ‘Bulldog’ was not only an exceptional leader and a faithful servant to his country but also an incredible writer and orator. The citation on his Nobel Prize for Literature, as translated from Swedish, reads: “For his mastery of historical and biographical description, as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.”