1. 1984 by George Orwell Building Background

2. “George Orwell” He was born Eric Blair in 1903 in Bengal, India
George Orwell was a pen name
George- common English name and Saint George
Orwell- a river near his parents’ house

3. About the Author He returned to England at the age of 1.
He attended various private schools and eventually ended up at Eton College, a public boys’ boarding school.
His parents didn’t have enough money to send him to university, and so he joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma where he stayed until He left because he realized he hated imperialism.

4. About the Author
Upon returning home from Burma, he decided to live in the poorest sections of both London and Paris and used these experiences as fuel for his writing. At one point he tried to get himself arrested, so he could spend Christmas in prison in order to have material to write about.
These experiences inspired his first book, Down and Out in Paris and London
He worked briefly as a school teacher until his health forced him to resign
He briefly moved to Northern England to write about the social conditions in the coal mines inspiring, The Road to Wigan Pier.
He married Eileen O’Shaughnessy, a graduate student in psychology

5. About the Author
In 1936, soon after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Orwell volunteered to fight against the uprising and where he became very disillusioned with communism. He was shot in the neck and returned to England. He wrote about his experiences in Homage to Catalonia.
At the outbreak of WWII, he tried to join the army, but he wasn’t allowed to join because of his health.
In 1941, He worked as a journalist in the Indian Service of the BBC in London and published several essays
He wrote Animal Farm, in 1944, an allegorical critique of communism.

6. About the Author
He wrote Animal Farm, in 1944, an allegorical critique of communism.
In March of the following year, while he was out of the country, his wife, Eileen, died during minor surgery. Orwell became both father and mother to their ten-month-old adopted son, Richard.

7. About the Author
In 1947, Orwell and his son moved to the remove Island of Jura, off of Scotland while he worked on his last novel 1984.
The damp climate damaged his weak lungs further, and he died in 1950 of a tubercular hemorrhage. He was 46.

8. Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system in which the state holds total authority over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life wherever possible.
It attempts to control all aspects of the social life including economy, education, art, science, private life and morals. economy, education, art, etc.
Ex. Nazi Germany, North Korea, Iraq under Saddam Hussein

9. Communism
Communism- social and economic system structured upon common ownership of the means of production with an absence of social classes, money, and the state
Ex. China, Cuba, USSR

10. Socialism
Socialism is a social and economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and co-operative management of the economy
Ex. Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Canada, Sweden

11. The Conditions Behind the Vision
In 1946 when George Orwell began to imagine a future world, he had just witnessed the defeat of two dictators – Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy
He had also witnessed the success of two other dictators – Francisco Franco in Spain and Josef Stalin in the former Soviet Union
He had also just lived through the most devastating war in history and seen its victors turn on each other in a tense cold war
Orwell’s vision of the future came from what he knew of the recent past

12. The Novel- 1984- Setting Setting: A dystopia (a world that went wrong)
Oceania
in a state of constant war with surrounding countries
Airstrip 1: the Capital City (formerly Great Britain)
Ever-present government surveillance and public manipulation
Political system: “English Socialism” or Ingsoc
The government is controlled by the Inner Party that persecutes individualism and calls it “thoughtcrimes”

13. The Novel- Social Organization
Classes in Oceania:
Inner Party- 2% of population, upper class, and they rule
Outer Party- middle class, 13% of population
Proles- lower class, 85% of population
Party controls the people with 4 ministries:
The Ministry of Peace- deals with war and defense
The Ministry of Plenty- deals with economic affairs (rationing and starvation
The Ministry of Love- deals with law and order (torture/brainwashing)
The Ministry of Truth- deals with news, entertainment, education, and art (censorship)

14. The Novel- Characters Major Characters- Winston Smith- protagonist
Julia- Winston’s love and a rebel
Big Brother- dark-eyed, mustached embodiment of the Party who rules Oceania
O-Brien- a member of the Inner Party
Emmanuel Goldstein- an enemy of the state

15. The Novel: Newspeak
The official language of Oceana. It is “politically correct” speech. It is based on standard English, but all words describing “unorthodox” political ideas have been removed.
An attempt to remove the overall number of words to limit the number of ideas that could be expressed.
The aim was to provide a way of speaking that required no thought what-so-ever.

16. 1984 and Irony
Situational Irony- When what actually happens is different from what one expects. Verbal Irony- When what one actually means is different from what one says.
Orwell uses irony all over the place. He might name something the opposite of what it’s actual function is. Or people do the opposite action from what they say.
Ex. The Ministry of Love- sounds nice, but is actually responsible for torture and brainwashing.

17. 1984 and Symbolism
Objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent larger ideas or concepts
Orwell relies on symbolism a lot, so look out for people or objects that tend to recur and could represent a larger idea!