George Orwell's Life
"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
Childhood and Early Life
Eric Arthur Blair, pen name: George Orwell was born in India on the 25th of June, 1903. A year later, Orwell's mother, his sister and himself, travelled to England and lived in Henley-on-Thames. Orwell's father, however, remained in India due to the fact that he had work there left undone, and hence rarely visited George Orwell and his mother. Therefore, Orwell did not have the opportunitiy to bond with his father, at least not until he retired in 2012. Nonetheless, Orwell's did not grow fond of his father, as they had very different views
Around the age of four, Orwell composed his first poem. He later wrote, "I had the lonely child's habit of making up stories and holding conversations with imaginary persons, and I think from the very start my literary ambitions were mixed up with the feeling of being isolated and undervalued." Surprisingly, his first literary success was when he had a poem published in the local newspaper at the age of 11.
In 1911, Orwell Studied in St. Cyprian's, this is where he first witnessed the class system that took place in the society. His teacher treated her students differently, being nicer to the richer students, and the opposite to the poorer student. Orwell was not popular during his years in school, and chose to read whenever he felt sad and isolated. The aspects that he lacked in regards to a person personaility, he made up for it with his intelligence. With that said, Orwell attained multiple scholarships to Wellington College and Eton College to further pursue his education.
After graduation, Orwell did not know what he should spend his life doing; his family was poor and could not afford to send him to university, and so he enlisted to the India Imperial Police Force in 1922. Having served the Police Force for five years, Orwell then returns to England and initiates his writing career.
Early Career
Out in Paris and London was one of his first few works. In this work he wrote about his experience living in both Paris and London. For the sake of maintaining an income, Orwell took on any opportunities of a career that he had. This work illustrated to the readers the massive contrast between the rich and the poor. Orwell then wrote a book regarding his experiences in Burmese Days which was then published in 1934. This book explored the idea of collonialism demonstrated in Burma. After the publications of his work, he started to have a growing intersted in political matters. In 1936, Orwell got married with Eileen who started supporting Orwell with his pursuit in being a writer.
In 1938, Orwell took part in the Spanish Civil War, enlisting into one of the groups that was fighting against General Francisco Franco. Unfortunately, Orwell was shot in his throat and in his arm, resulting in his inability to speak for a few weeks. Additionally, Orwell and his wife was accused of treason by the Spanish government, but luckily the charges were placed upon them after they have already fled the country.
Since he needed to earn a living, Orwell took on all kinds of work. He wrote many essays and reviews, and with that, he built himself a reputation of producing well written literary criticism. In 1941, he became part of BBC, and hosted news commentaries and talk shows for viewers from Eastern Britain. His show attracted many famous writers, such as T. S. Eliot and E. M. Forster who showed their faces many times on his show. As World War II got closer, Orwell realized his influence as a propagandists in supporting the country. He therefore resigned from his job from BBC in 1943, and became one of the editors for a socialists newspaper.
Later Works
Two of Orwell's most famous novels are Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, which were both published near the end of his life. Animal Farm is a allegory written about the Russian Revolution, where the two protagonists are represented by Pigs. They were sillouettes of Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. This was one of Orwell's novels which earned him many awards. Orwell felt that he could not ignore the horror of the incidents taking place in the Soveit Communist Party, which overthrew the semifeudal system enforced by the Tsar, and was replaced by the dictator Joseph Stalin. Orwell critisized capitalists and communists. He was reknowned as an opponent of oppression set by communists. Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty Four, were two novels that he wrote that opposed the ideas of totalitarianism. Both novels challanges the ideas of totalitarian communism. Animal farm was somewhat a fairy tale, using animals to represent historical characfters, and some animals were directly based on leaders of the communist party. During the Spanish Civil War, as mentioned previously, Orwell got inspired to write Animal Farm, illustrating that any politcal system where its main objective is to control humans is never justified.
In 1949, Nineteen Eighty Four was published. His thought of the world being separated into three oppressive nations shocked many of its readers. In the novel, he illustrated to his readers the consequences of allowing the government to take control of everyone's personal life, including their thoughts and free minds. Both of Orwell's Novels were great successes, however, after the publication of Nineteen Eigthy-Four, Orwell began to suffer from Tubercullosis.
Orwell passed away on January 21, 1950 in a hospital in London. Even after his death, Orwell's ideas has continued thourgh into current times by his works.(A+E Television Networks. LLC, 2013)
1. A+E Television Networks. LLC. (2013). George Orwell biography. Retrieved March 28th, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/george-orwell-9429833?page=3
Childhood and Early Life
Eric Arthur Blair, pen name: George Orwell was born in India on the 25th of June, 1903. A year later, Orwell's mother, his sister and himself, travelled to England and lived in Henley-on-Thames. Orwell's father, however, remained in India due to the fact that he had work there left undone, and hence rarely visited George Orwell and his mother. Therefore, Orwell did not have the opportunitiy to bond with his father, at least not until he retired in 2012. Nonetheless, Orwell's did not grow fond of his father, as they had very different views
Around the age of four, Orwell composed his first poem. He later wrote, "I had the lonely child's habit of making up stories and holding conversations with imaginary persons, and I think from the very start my literary ambitions were mixed up with the feeling of being isolated and undervalued." Surprisingly, his first literary success was when he had a poem published in the local newspaper at the age of 11.
In 1911, Orwell Studied in St. Cyprian's, this is where he first witnessed the class system that took place in the society. His teacher treated her students differently, being nicer to the richer students, and the opposite to the poorer student. Orwell was not popular during his years in school, and chose to read whenever he felt sad and isolated. The aspects that he lacked in regards to a person personaility, he made up for it with his intelligence. With that said, Orwell attained multiple scholarships to Wellington College and Eton College to further pursue his education.
After graduation, Orwell did not know what he should spend his life doing; his family was poor and could not afford to send him to university, and so he enlisted to the India Imperial Police Force in 1922. Having served the Police Force for five years, Orwell then returns to England and initiates his writing career.
Early Career
Out in Paris and London was one of his first few works. In this work he wrote about his experience living in both Paris and London. For the sake of maintaining an income, Orwell took on any opportunities of a career that he had. This work illustrated to the readers the massive contrast between the rich and the poor. Orwell then wrote a book regarding his experiences in Burmese Days which was then published in 1934. This book explored the idea of collonialism demonstrated in Burma. After the publications of his work, he started to have a growing intersted in political matters. In 1936, Orwell got married with Eileen who started supporting Orwell with his pursuit in being a writer.
In 1938, Orwell took part in the Spanish Civil War, enlisting into one of the groups that was fighting against General Francisco Franco. Unfortunately, Orwell was shot in his throat and in his arm, resulting in his inability to speak for a few weeks. Additionally, Orwell and his wife was accused of treason by the Spanish government, but luckily the charges were placed upon them after they have already fled the country.
Since he needed to earn a living, Orwell took on all kinds of work. He wrote many essays and reviews, and with that, he built himself a reputation of producing well written literary criticism. In 1941, he became part of BBC, and hosted news commentaries and talk shows for viewers from Eastern Britain. His show attracted many famous writers, such as T. S. Eliot and E. M. Forster who showed their faces many times on his show. As World War II got closer, Orwell realized his influence as a propagandists in supporting the country. He therefore resigned from his job from BBC in 1943, and became one of the editors for a socialists newspaper.
Later Works
Two of Orwell's most famous novels are Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, which were both published near the end of his life. Animal Farm is a allegory written about the Russian Revolution, where the two protagonists are represented by Pigs. They were sillouettes of Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. This was one of Orwell's novels which earned him many awards. Orwell felt that he could not ignore the horror of the incidents taking place in the Soveit Communist Party, which overthrew the semifeudal system enforced by the Tsar, and was replaced by the dictator Joseph Stalin. Orwell critisized capitalists and communists. He was reknowned as an opponent of oppression set by communists. Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty Four, were two novels that he wrote that opposed the ideas of totalitarianism. Both novels challanges the ideas of totalitarian communism. Animal farm was somewhat a fairy tale, using animals to represent historical characfters, and some animals were directly based on leaders of the communist party. During the Spanish Civil War, as mentioned previously, Orwell got inspired to write Animal Farm, illustrating that any politcal system where its main objective is to control humans is never justified.
In 1949, Nineteen Eighty Four was published. His thought of the world being separated into three oppressive nations shocked many of its readers. In the novel, he illustrated to his readers the consequences of allowing the government to take control of everyone's personal life, including their thoughts and free minds. Both of Orwell's Novels were great successes, however, after the publication of Nineteen Eigthy-Four, Orwell began to suffer from Tubercullosis.
Orwell passed away on January 21, 1950 in a hospital in London. Even after his death, Orwell's ideas has continued thourgh into current times by his works.(A+E Television Networks. LLC, 2013)
1. A+E Television Networks. LLC. (2013). George Orwell biography. Retrieved March 28th, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/george-orwell-9429833?page=3