1. (1903-1950)

2. Real Name: Eric Blair British Political Novelist Born: To English parents in India

3. After his father retired, Eric and his family moved back to England.

4. He was sent to boarding school at the age of eight to prepare for Eton, an exclusive prep school. Because he had a scholarship, he was teased and humiliated frequently.

5. At eighteen, he passed the Empire’s Civil Service Exam and became a police officer in Burma.

6. Returned in Europe

9. Socialist: someone who believes that the government should own businesses so that everyone will be equal

12. 1984 Historical and Biographical Context Image source: http://ih0.redbubble.net/work.7167956.1.flat,550x550,075,f.george- orwell-1984-ii.jpgImage Image source for un-cited images: GoogleImages Source for all uncited images: Google Images

13. Orwell’s Explanation of His Work “First I spent five years in an unsuitable profession (the Indian Imperial Police, in Burma), and then I underwent poverty and the sense of failure. This increased my natural hatred of authority and made me for the first time fully aware of the existence of the working classes, and the job in Burma had given me some understanding of the nature of imperialism: but these experiences were not enough to give me an accurate political orientation. Then came Hitler, the Spanish Civil War, etc. By the end of 1935 I had still failed to reach a firm decision… Image source: GeorgeOrwellNovels.com

14. Orwell’s Explanation of His Work The Spanish war and other events in 1936- 37 turned the scale and thereafter I knew where I stood. Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it.” From “Why I Write” by George Orwell Millennium Watch, by Vladimir Kush (ca 2010)

15. Totalitarianism A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution, laws, or opposition) …with total control of the people: – Armed forces and police – Communication – Economy – Religion – Etcetera! Rejection of natural rights: life, liberty, and property Image source: Heinrich Hoffmann Image Source: Roy Nierkerk Image source: Revista Argentina, Siete Dias Ilustrados, Edition Extra, May 1969. Online. Choose three

16. Democratic Socialism Belief that society and economy should be run to meet the needs of all Marx and Engels: “To raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class, to win the battle of democracy.”

17. 1984 Original title: Last Man in Europe (see 270) Written in 1948 Dystopian novel Dystopia -Dys = bad -Topos = place Utopia -Ou = no -Topos = place Reads: -Warning against totalitarianism -Critique of the Catholic Church -Nihilistic prophecy of downfall of humankind Created an ‘Orwellian’ vernacular