June 25, 1903 – January 21, 1950

“Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.”  Real name Eric Arthur Blair  Born in India – mother moved him to England when he was 1  Family was “lower-upper-middle class”  Raised in company of mother & 2 sisters – only saw his father once between (worked in India)

“Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”  Family moved to Shiplake  Attended parish school ages 6-8  Arrangements made to attend school on scholarship (family couldn’t afford it)  Started writing at school but unhappy there  Writing was praised & earned him scholarships to Wellington & Eton

“Early in life I had noticed that no event is ever correctly reported in a newspaper.”  Had poor academic performance at Eton – unable to obtain another scholarship  Instead was decided he would join Indian Imperial Police because had romantic ideas about the East  Chose to go to Burma where grandmother lived  Contracted a fever in 1927 – allowed to return to England & decided to quit Burma police to become a writer  Days from Burma were inspiration for a novel & 2 essays “A Hanging” (1931) “Shooting an Elephant” (1936) Burmese Days (1934)  Moved to Paris Wrote mostly short stories but had trouble getting them published Resorted to working menial jobs

“Dickens is one of those authors who are well worth stealing.”  Moved back to London – spent time living with various friends & relatives & teaching at a small private school  Continued to write – mostly of his experiences, particularly his “outings” into poorer life of England  1933 – Published Down and Out in Paris and London under nom de plume George Orwell

“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”  Teaching career ended after caught pneumonia in 1934 A Clergyman’s Daughter (1935) based on teaching  At this time was a proponent for socialism & wanted to write for the common man  1936 – married Eileen O’Shaughnessy Adopted son in 1944 – Richard Horatio  Spanish Civil War- when broke out he and wife wanted to fight for Spanish gov’t – barely escaped w/lives in 1937

“All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.”  WWII – Joined Home Guard & worked in broadcasting with BBC (propaganda efforts to garner support from Indians & East Asians)  Wife died in 1945  1945 – attempting to publish Animal Farm (anti-Stalinist allegory) – held until after war ended Had worldwide success

“In our time political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible.”  Over next 4 years, was journalist & article writer for magazines while working on 1984 (1949)  1949 – married Sonia Bronwell  Same year – admitted to sanatorium for tuberculosis (suffered from it for past few years)  Died suddenly January 21, 1950

“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”  Writing has inspired many other works & adaptations  Animal Farm and 1984 by far best known  Also contributed many concepts, words & phrases to present day language - Orwellian  Devoted much of life and works to various causes critical of capitalism, imperialism, fascism & Stalinism  Master of wit & satire – critically observed politics of his time & envisioning future

1984 – published in 1949– “Big Brother is watching you.”  Dystopian novel - focuses on repressive, totalitarian regime  Famous for portrayal of pervasive government surveillance & control, lack of rights for individual, ideas about society  Originally titled The Last Man in Europe – much speculation about meaning of title 1984  Much of society in novel based on Stalin’s Soviet Union  Also parallels parts of life from both World Wars

World of 1984