GEORGE ORWELL

Life
He was born in India in 1903 and his real name is Eric Arthur Blair. He spent his childhood in
England where he published his first book in 1933. He fought in the Spanish Civil War. He worked
briefly for the BBC and became a literary editor for The Tribune.

Themes
-The principal themes are, anti-totalitarianism infects his work express a clear warning against
mystification of power.
-Social and political conditions.
-The independent thinking and the relationship between power and censorship and language and
power.

Main works
- Animal farm in an allegorical novel write in 1945, is an anti-Soviet satire in a pastoral
setting. It’s a representation of the danger of all king of revolution and denounces the
threat of selfness and greed that characterizes human actions.
- 1984 was published in 1949, is a dystopian novel set in a bleak future and denouncing the
danger of totalitarianism by representing a world in which human individuality has been
cancelled by the actions of an oppressive government

1984
The story is set in London, capital of the state of Oceania. Winston Smith is a journalist and his job
is to rewrite history. He rebels against the oppression of the regime. He writes a diary and falls in
love with Julia, partner in his rebellion, but they are discovering by the Thought Police. They are
arrested and make them a brainwashing and they deny their ideals.

- Winston Smith his name is symbolical because Winston refers to Winston Churchill, Smith is the
most common English surname, he represents the common English man idea. He is the one the
few that preserves his humanity. He tries to rebel against the power of the Party.

-Big Brother, is an image present everywhere is a strong face that looks at all citizens form
Posters and Television screens. The slogan is “Big brother is watching you” reflect a regime in
which all the citizens can be spied and where even though aren’t private. Mustache as Hitler and
Stalin.

-Newspeak is a reformed version of the English Language introduced in 1984 he deletes all
irregular form and a lot of English terms. Its aim is to reduce the possibility to create independent
or unorthodox thought.

-Doublethink is the ability of holding two contrasting ideas at the same time, even when they are
contradictory, represent the cancellation of human conscience and rationality. (war is peace,
freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength).