George Orwell [pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair] (190 !

19"0#, journalist, political author and novelist wrote Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949); Eric Arthur Blair was born on 25 une 19!" in #otihari, Ben$al (now Bihar) %ndia, into a &a'il( o& the lower-upper middle class as he wr(l( puts it in The Road to Wigan Pier(19"")) *e was the son o& %da #abel ne +i'ou,in (1-.5/194") and 0ichard 1al'esle( Blair (1-5./ 19"-), who wor2ed as a sub3deput( opiu' a$ent &or the %ndian 4ivil 5ervice under the British 0aj) Eric rarel( saw his &ather until he had retired in 1912) Eric6s $rand&ather had been a wealth( plantation and slave owner but the &ortunes dwindled b( the ti'e he was born) *e had two sisters, #arjorie and Avril)

At the a$e o& one Eric and his 'other settled in En$land; his &ather joined the' in 1912) At the a$e o& &ive, Blair entered the An$lican parish school o& *enle(3on37ha'es which he attended &or two (ears be&ore enterin$ the presti$ious 5t) 4(prian6s school in 5usse8) 4orporal punish'ent was co''on in the da( and possibl( a source o& his initial resent'ent towards authorit() 1hile there, Blair wrote his &irst published wor2, the poe' 9Awa2e: ;oun$ #en o& En$land<; 9 h! thin" o# the War $ord%s mailed #ist& That is stri"ing at England today' 1ith pressures to e8cel, Eric earned a scholarship to the most costly and sno((ish o# the English Pu(lic )chools Eton 4olle$e where he attended between 191. and 1921, and where Aldous *u8le(, author o& *ra+e New World (19"2)

tau$ht hi' =renc 9%t was one o& those pictures which are so contrived that the e(es &ollow (ou about when (ou 'ove) B%> B0?7*E0 %5 1A74*%@> ;?A, the caption beneath it ran)< ?ri$inall( titled $ast ,an in Europe it was rena'ed Nineteen Eighty-Four &or un2nown reasons, possibl( a 'ere reversal o& the last two di$its o& the (ear it was written) %t was &irst 'et with con&lictin$ criticis's and acclai'; so'e reviewers disli2ed its d(stopian satire o& totalitarian re$i'es, nationalis', the class s(ste', bureaucrac(, and world leaders6 power stru$$les, while others panned it as nihilistic prophes( on the down&all o& hu'an2ind) 5o'e still see it as anti3 4atholic with Bi$ Brother replacin$ >od and church) =ro' it the ter'

rwellian has evolved, in re&erence to an idea or action that is hostile to a &ree societ() ;et, Nineteen EightyFour has proven to be a pro&oundl( 'eanin$&ul wor2 and continues to be one o& the world6s 'ost widel( read and Buoted novels into the twent(3 &irst centur() %nspired b( ;ev$en( Ca'(atinDs (1--4319".) We, Blair wor2ed intensel(, o&ten writin$ ten hours a da( and even when bedridden with tuberculosis in his last da(s continued to labour over it) =ro' his essa( 91h( % 1rite<; 9=irst % spent &ive (ears in an unsuitable pro&ession (the %ndian %'perial Eolice, in Bur'a), and then % underwent povert( and the sense o& &ailure) 7his increased '( natural hatred o& authorit( and 'ade 'e &or the &irst ti'e &ull( aware o& the e8istence o& the wor2in$ classes, and the job in Bur'a had $iven 'e

so'e understandin$ o& the nature o& i'perialis'F but these e8periences were not enou$h to $ive 'e an accurate political orientation) 7hen ca'e *itler, the 5panish 4ivil 1ar, etc) B( the end o& 19"5 % had still &ailed to reach a &ir' decision)< *e $oes on to sa(; 97he 5panish war and other events in 19"G3". turned the scale and therea&ter % 2new where % stood) Ever( line o& serious wor2 that % have written since 19"G has been written, directl( or indirectl(, a$ainst totalitarianis' and &or de'ocratic socialis', as % understand it)< =ollowin$ in his &ather6s &ootsteps, Blair went to Bur'a (now #(an'ar) to join the %ndian %'perial Eolice, 'uch li2e author *) *) #unro or H5a2i6 had done in 1-9") Iurin$ the ne8t &ive (ears he $rew to love the Bur'ese and resent the oppression

o& i'perialis' and decided to beco'e a writer instead) 1or2s he wrote in&luenced b( this period o& his li&e are his essa( 9A *an$in$< (19"1); -t is curious& (ut till that moment - had ne+er reali.ed what it means to destroy a healthy& conscious man' and 95hootin$ an Elephant< (19"G); 9-t is a serious matter to shoot a wor"ing elephant / it is compara(le to destroying a huge and costly piece o# machinery') *is novel *urmese 0ays was &irst published in the Anited 5tates in 19"4 and then +ondon in 19"5, also based on his da(s in service) $$ %%& the 'ome $ar Effort& and (ame 19 9!19"0 Bac2 in En$land, Blair set to &reelance writin$ a$ain &or such publications as New English Wee"ly,

The Tri(une and New )tatesman) *is essa( subjects include &ellow authors 4harles Iic2ens, 1illia' Butler ;eats, Arthur Joestler, and E)>) 1odehouse) Essa( titles include 9%nside the 1hale< (194!), 97he +ion and 7he AnicornF 5ocialis' and the En$lish >enius< (1941), 9@otes on @ationalis'< (1945), 9*ow the Eoor Iie< (194G), and 90e&lections on >andhi< (1949)) 1oming 2p For Air was published in 19"9) Blair joined the *o'e >uards and also wor2ed in broadcastin$ with the BB4 in propa$anda e&&orts to $arner support &ro' %ndians and East Asians) *e was also literar( editor &or the le&t win$ The Tri(une, writin$ his colu'n 9As % Elease< until 1945, the sa'e (ear he beca'e a war correspondent &orThe (ser+er) Eileen ?65hau$hness( died on 29 #arch 1945 while under$oin$ sur$er( in

@ewcastle upon 7(ne) %n 194G Blair lived &or a (ear at Barnhill on the %sle o& ura) =or (ears he had been developin$ his &avourite novel that would cinch his literar( le$ac(, Animal Farm (1944)) n my return #rom )pain - thought o# e3posing the )o+iet myth in a story that could (e easily understood' Eublishers did not want to touch his anti35talinist alle$or( while war was still ra$in$ so it was held &or publishin$ until a&ter the war had ended) =ro' 4hapter ?ne o& Animal Farm; 9#an is the onl( real ene'( we have) 0e'ove #an &ro' the scene, and the root cause o& hun$er and overwor2 is abolished &or ever) #an is the onl( creature that consu'es without producin$) *e does not $ive 'il2, he does not la( e$$s, he is too wea2 to pull the plou$h, he cannot

run &ast enou$h to catch rabbits) ;et he is lord o& all the ani'als) *e sets the' to wor2, he $ives bac2 to the' the bare 'ini'u' that will prevent the' &ro' starvin$, and the rest he 2eeps &or hi'sel&)< >eor$e ?rwell6s li&e and wor2s have been the source o& inspiration &or 'an( other authors6 wor2s) 4eep The Aspidistra Flying, Animal Farm, and Nineteen Eighty-Four have inspired nu'erous television and &il' adaptations) *e has also contributed nu'erous concepts, words, and phrases to present da( lan$ua$e includin$ Newspea"; dou(lethin" 9the power o& holdin$ two contradictor( belie&s in one6s 'ind si'ultaneousl(, and acceptin$ both o& the'<; thoughtcrime; #our legs good& two legs (ad; all animals are created e5ual& (ut some

animals are more e5ual than others; 6e who controls the past controls the #uture' 6e who controls the present controls the past; and War is peace& #reedom is sla+ery& ignorance is strength) A'on$ the ran2s o& other such acclai'ed literar( $iants as onathan 5wi&t andAldous *u8le(, >eor$e ?rwell is a 'aster o& wit and satire, criticall( observin$ the politics o& his ti'e and propheticall( envisionin$ the &uture) *e devoted 'uch o& his li&e to various causes critical o& capitalis', i'perialis', &ascis', and 5talinis', but in the end what hemost wanted to do is to ma"e political writing into an art'