George

Orwell

George Orwell, whose real name was Eric Blair, was born in Bengal, India, in 1903.
When he was young, his father sent him to England for his education and here
Orwell attended to Eaton. He was unfavourably impressed from the snobbish
atmosphere and this dislike characterised his books, particularly the
autobiographical work Such, Such Were the Joys.
From 1922 to 1927 he served with the Indian Police in Burma. This experience
increased his hatred of class privilege and authority and of English imperialism. He
wrote a novel about his experience in the East: Burmese Days.
When he returned to Europe he spent eighteen months in Paris where he lived in
absolutely poverty and where he tried various jobs convinced that one must have
as wide a range as possible. When he left Paris for England he continued this life
style for some years and in 1933 wrote Down and Out in Paris and London an
account of this period. The book was well received and on the wave of this success
Orwell wrote A Clergymans Daughter, a novel which even him considered his worst
production. In 1936 he wrote Keep the Aspidistra Flying, a story base on
autobiographical events.
In 1936 he married Eileen OShanghnessy supported by his financial position.
During this period his addiction to the political events led him to active
involvement in the socialist party and he wrote a book about the condition in the
poor areas of England: The Road to Wigan Pier.
After the break of the Spanish Civil War, in 1936, Orwell and his wife left for
Barcelona with the intention to work as a journalist, but he was seriously wounded
in the throat and after a long stay in hospital he returned to home. Homage to
Catalonia is an account of those experiences in Spain.
Orwell spent the period previous the World War II in England, except for a trip in
Morocco in 1938 for health reason. He suffered with chronic lung problems and
during this period he wrote an essay, Marrakesh, and the first novel that gave him
popularity: Coming Up for Air.
During the war, Orwell worked for the BBC. In 1945 his wife died after a minor
operation, caused from their renounces for the poor. During the last months of the
war he was in France, Austria and Germany as a correspondent.
His most famous book, Animal Farm, appeared in 1945 and it made the author
internationally famous. He continued to write Critical Essays (1946), Shooting an
Elephant (1950) and more articles for important newspaper.
In 1948 started to write Nineteen Eighty-Four and finished it in 1949 before he
died. Like Animal Farm, the book is a social allegory and contains a vision of the
world in the near future.


George Orwell

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Nineteen Eighty-Four is one of the best works by George Orwell. Generally it can be
defined an anti-utopian or dystopian novel. In this new type of novel, places which
do not exist are described, but they are not ideal, on the contrary, they are
nightmarish and frightening. They are usually set in the future and they represent
warnings to the society because, if they do not change their behaviour, what now is
foreseen will come true.
The novel is set in a bomb ruined London in the imaginary state of Oceania one of
the three world powers constantly at war. Society is governed according to the
principle of Socing, the English Socialism.
Nineteen Eighty-Four is divided in three part:
The first part, in which are described the world powers, the Party and his
head: the Big Brother. Winston Smith, the protagonist of the story, is
introduced
The second part, in which are described the main characters of the story like
Julia and OBrien
The third part, in which is described the torture of Winston
In the imaginary state of Oceania, the Party controls every word and action, thanks
to the telescreens that can watch people in every moments. The party keeps people
ignorant of history and of current affairs and maintains its power by destroying all
human feelings with the exception of hate and fear; only proles, considered inferior
show human emotions, remember the past, and continue to have families.
Individuality must be abolished: everybody looks identical because of the Party
uniforms, and differences of opinion are made impossible by the restrictions of
Newspeak, the simplified new language, which eliminates words that express
independent or politically challenging ideas.
Winston is a thirty-nine year old employee of the Ministry of Truth and his job is to
revise history as it appears in newspapers, books and magazines written before the
Revolution. He is dissatisfied with the Party and rebels in many ways: he writes a
diary, he starts a love affair with Julia, an employee of the Fiction Department, and
tries to have a relationship with the proles.
OBrien, an important official of the Inner Party, leads Winston and Julia to think
that he shares their opinion about the Party and so he gives a seditious book to
Winston. One afternoon, while they are reading the book, they are arrested and
imprisoned. Now OBrien reveals his real identity and through physical and
psychological torture Winston confesses numerous crimes, then he is put in
rehabilitation. During this process, which lasts nine months, with some form of
brainwashing Winston comes to love OBrien, and they finally become friends.
Completely subdued Winston is released and now loves not Julia but Big Brother.