Eric Blair GEORGE ORWELL 1903 1950 LIFE AND

Eric Blair GEORGE ORWELL 1903 - 1950

LIFE AND WORKS § He was born in India in 1903 § His mother took him to England when he was child § He was educated at a preparatory school and then at Eton § At Eton he began to develop an independent-minded personality, indifference to accepted values and professed atheism and socialism because he could not stand traditions and rules of society § He passed the India Office examinations for the Indian Imperial Police and he served in Burma from 1922 to 1927 § In 1927 he went on leave and he not returned § He wished to break away from British imperialism in India and every form of man’s dominion over man

FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCES § Back in London he started a social experiment: be poor and he learned how § § § § institutions for the poor (hospitals, prisons, hostels) After a period in Paris he published his works with the pseudonym of George Orwell because “George” suggested common sense and “Orwell” was the name of a river he was fond of In “Down and Out in Paris and London” describe his experience among the poor In “Burmese Days” describe his experience in the colonial service In 1936 he married Eileen O’Shaughnessy Was commissioned to investigate conditions among the miners, factory workers and unemployed in the industrial North - - > his report was “The Road to Wigan Pier” He went to Catalonia with his wife to report Spanish Civil War: with Homage to Catalonia he recalled the experience of his conversion to socialism and the ideal of brotherhood and equality He back in England adopted Richard: an infant child He suffered bronchitis and pneumonia

AN INFLUENTIAL VOICE OF THE 20 th CENTURY § When the Second World War broke out, he moved to London and worked on propaganda for the BBC from 1941 to 1943 § In 1943 he began to write “Animal Farm” which was published in 1945 and this gave him popularity in Europe § In 1949 the published “Nineteen Eighty-Four” his most original book which became a best-seller § He died of tuberculosis in 1950

THE ARTIST’S DEVELOPMENT § Orwell understand English character of its tolerance, its dislike of abstract theories, common sense and fair play § He had ability to see his country from the outside, so he was receptive to new ideas and impressions § His life and work were marked by the unresolved conflict between his middle-class background and education and his emotional identification with the working class § In “Inside the Whale” he defined the role of the writer considering the literature of the 1920 s and 1930 s. § His desire to inform, to reveal facts and draw conclusion from them § Most of his successful novels express political themes § He believed that the writer should be independent

SOCIAL THEMES § Orwell was a political journalist, critic and book-reviewer in the tradition of Swift and Defoe § He used realistic and factual language § He represented a vision of human fraternity and misery caused by poverty and deprivation § He supported ideals of tolerance, justice and equality between people § He critiqued totalitarianism, violation of liberty § HELPED HIS READERS TO RECOGNISE TYRANNY IN ALL ITS FROMS