George Orwell 1903-1950 Author

Orwell’s Early Background His father was a colonial officer in the British military stationed in India He was born in India as Eric Blair and moved to England where he took his pseudonym, or pen name, from the River Orwell He was educated at Eton College in Windsor, England and had a professor named Aldous Huxley who wrote the famous dystopia, Brave New World, an archetype which influenced Orwell’s own writing

Orwell Began to Ask Why Orwell developed a very independent viewpoint, especially to values that people “just accepted” He tried working for the Indian Imperial Police (in Burma), but hated it because the Burmese people rejected him, so he returned to England to try writing full time.

Orwell as a Writer The Beginning of His Writing Career Orwell was deeply affected by the poverty he saw His travels in East London and Paris, France showed him the “down-and-outers” about which he would start to write He lived among these homeless people and learned their struggles firsthand This led to a number of essays and his first novel, Down and Out in Paris and London He was becoming very political by the time he wrote Burmese Days.

Orwell’s Tragic Life Orwell involved himself in fighting for the oppressed Orwell married Eileen O'Shaughnessy in 1936 and decided to fight in the Spanish Civil War in 1937 even though he did not live there He was shot in the throat and the arm while in the war, but survived his injuries Orwell was often sick, and he was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1938 The couple adopted a son in 1944 Eileen died during an operation in 1945, so Orwell’s sister, Avril, came to live with him to help care for the child

Orwell as a Writer To support himself, Orwell wrote essays and literary criticisms. He also worked for the BBC in 1941 as a producer and a newsman He eventually found himself producing propaganda for Great Britain during WWII He resigned in 1943 and wrote the novel Animal Farm in 1945 at the end of WWII

Orwell and His Great Works His Writing Career & Animal Farm… Orwell wrote Animal Farm in 1945, and it was highly successful The novel is a satirical piece with the Soviet Union as its target Two pigs are the main protagonists and are believed to be Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky, both important figures in the Communist revolution of 1917 in Russia The novel is both dystopian and allegorical as it deals with animals on a farm, but it symbolically tells another story

Philosophical Underpinnings for Orwell’s Great Works Much of Orwell’s writing was inspired by and was a reaction to some political philosophies: --Socialism: property & distribution of wealth are controlled by governments to increase social and economic equality. --Communism: goal is to form a classless society based on common ownership of the state where everyone is equal. The roots of Communism go back to the philosophical work of Karl Marx who believed communism should replace other forms of government. Marx: “From each according to his ability—to each according to his needs.”

Orwell’s Political Views Joseph Stalin attempted to put Marx’s philosophies into practice after the 1917 Revolution in Russia which established the Soviet Socialist Republic (Soviet Union) Orwell saw himself as a “democratic socialist,” which, to him, was something much different than what Stalin practiced

Philosophical Underpinnings for Orwell’s Great Works Thomas More (English Author) invented the term “Utopia” in 1516—Utopia translates to no place, and it is a fictional paradise where everyone is equal. In some ways, Communism seeks to achieve this kind of paradise or at least a “workers paradise.” The workers paradise was Marx’s last stage in his vision for his Socialist society.

Philosophical Underpinnings for Orwell’s Great Works Dystopia is a vision of an often futuristic society, which has developed into a negative version of Utopia. A dystopia is often characterized by a totalitarian form of government. This totalitarian government uses different kinds of repressive social control systems, a lack or total absence of individual freedoms and expressions, and a state of constant warfare or violence. Look for some of these features in Orwell’s works, especially Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)

Orwell and His Great Works His Writing Career & 1984… In 1949, Orwell published arguably one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century, Nineteen Eighty-Four (or 1984) The novel is the essence of dystopian as it paints a disturbing vision of a world where Big Brother controls everything and three nations are at war Really the novel is about Orwell’s theory on what a society would be like if it controlled every aspect of a person’s life

How Did Orwell Know? The technology in 1984 described is far ahead of its time, and some might say it is quite prophetic given the technology we have today and the possibility that it could be used by a government to spy on its citizens The novel was a massive success and lives on today, even though Orwell died from tuberculosis just a year after it was published in 1950