About george Orwell
George Orwell, the pen name of Eric Blair, was born on June 25th, 1903, in Bengal, India.
He was a novelist and a critic "famous for his novels Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-four (1949)." (Britannica, 2013) Orwell was raised up in a low-income family, and struggled to receive education. As a boy, he was already well aware of class distinctions when attending St. Cyprian's preparatory school in Sussex, where he felt misplaced due to his family background. However his later works of novels, documentaries, essays and criticisms, allowed Orwell to establish himself as one of the most important and influential voices of the century. It is known that a writer's opinion and interests may change dramatically, depending on their experiences or the influence of others. George Orwell, more than most, left a powerful record of his beliefs and feelings through his collection of works. |
Begal, India where George Orwell was born
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United Kingdom, where Orwell later returned with his parents
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GEORGE ORWELL's FAMOUS WORKS
Other Novels
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SUMMARIES OF ORWEll's works
burmese days 1934In his first novel, Burmese Days, Orwell recounts his experiences as an Indian Imperial Officer, and illustrates Britain's colonialism in Burma.
The plot is set in the mid-1920s, during the last years of Britain's imperial domination of the region. Orwell writes about the unbridgeable gulf between races, between the ruled and the rulers. (Means, 2005) As reflected in Orwell's writing, British colonial residents were becoming less confident in their imperial role. animal farm 1945Animal Farm is an allegorical satire of the Russian Revolution been betrayed by its own leaders. The novel aims to criticize the totalitarian regime Stalin enforced, and states how he has corrupted the ideas of socialism.
The story writes about the rebellion of the animals against their human owner, Mr Jones. Through the use of allegory, Orwell intends to convey his critiques in an indirect manner, as well as to write in a way that would be easily understood by a wide readership. |
COMing up for air 1939Coming Up for Air gave Orwell a chance to reminisce about the big changes in England following World War I. He writes about a lower middle -class protagonist, Bowling in order to inspire the readers of that class to assert themselves and the real England.
The novel does not have an action-packed plot, however it deliberately conveys Orwell's state of mind being left in the past. (Means, 2005) The rather depressing story includes the theme of nostalgia, the folly of constantly looking to recapture the past glories. nineteen eighty-four 1949Nineteen Eighty- Four is Orwell's last novel. Orwell's intended target was the totalitarianism that was so much a part of the communist and fascist regimes of Europe. However he made it clear though that he still believed in socialism as the best political model. (Means, 2005)
In the novel, Orwell introduces a grim world called a dystopia, which is opposed to the ideal conditions of a utopia. The society is monitored by the Big Brothers who represents the communist government. People are inhibited to think ill about the government, known as the "thought-crime" |
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'Coming Up for Air' Online |
why orwell writes ?
From a young age, Orwell left no doubt about his motivation for becoming a writer.
In his 1946 essay "Why I Write", it began with the declaration that he wanted to be a writer from "a very early age, perhaps the age of five or six" (Why I Write) He later continued by commenting on his "facility with words and power of facing unpleasant facts"(Why I Write). Orwell was determined that he would create a "private world" through writing. There are four main motives for writing prose, Orwell stated in "Why I Write":
Orwell strongly believed that words are the strongest weapon. Furthermore, he displays his intentions towards exposing unpleasant facts by stating that “Liberty is telling people what they do not want to hear.” (preface to Animal Farm) |
The political ContentPolitics and writing are almost inseparable in Orwell's career, where his first published novel, Burmese Days, took aim at colonial rule and his later novels targeted at the totalitarian regimes around the world. (Mahoney, 1994)
Orwell sees himself and the society as being in historical crisis, therefore he kept attention on the lives of oppressed and deprived people throughout his life. The ambition which Orwell held dearly was to "make political writing into an art" ('Why I Write'). He aims to "attack the Right, but not to flatter the Left" ('Why I Write') and shapes his political views by his experience of Socialism, Totalitarianism and Imperialism all over the world. Hence, Orwell's ideas about social and political often took precedence over the development of plot and characters in his work. (Opalinsha, 1997) |
Literary influencesThroughout Orwell's lifetime, he has encountered many inspirational writers who brought an impact to his style of writing. Among the writers Orwell credited as influences through his reading were Somerset Maugham, a leading literary figure of the preceding generation, and Jonathan Swift. (Rodden, 2009)
Orwell looked upon Maugham "for his power of telling a story straightforwardly and without frills" noted in a 1940 autobiographical sketch. His influence upon Orwell can be clearly identified from Orwell's simplistic writing style. (Rodden, 2009) Orwell was a great admirer of Swift, whose "Gulliver's Travels" has been a model for satirical allegory since it was written in the early eighteenth century. His novel 'Animal Farm' is also observed to have been adapted from the classics of Jonathan Swift. (Mahoney, 2005) writing style |
In Animal Farm, Orwell's political and social analyses have had a profound influence on the readers' views towards the communist regime under Stalin’s rule. However, the language which he expressed his vision with has been largely neglected.
The writer of several classic essays is famous for his taut, lucid style. He is especially concerned with his word use. In his later works, he tried to eliminate “decorative adjectives” and “purple passages”- in other words, a description that is not essential to the story. In his essay "Politics and the English Language" (1946) Orwell illustrates the "decay of language" and introduces his six elementary rules for effective writing: 1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. 2. Never use a long word where a short one will do. 3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. 4. Never use the passive where you can use the active 5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. Furthermore, the literary device that has done the most to build Orwell’s reputation is satire, notably in Animal Farm. Where this relatively simple story exposes the Soviet tyranny more memorably than a detailed history could have done. Above all, Orwell's works have long influenced literature regarding the ways he looked at the immediate society and his rational responses. |