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George Orwell (1903-1950)

novelist, essayist, journalist

greatest achievements: essays (one of the best essayists in the English language), novels
Animal Farm, 1984
critical opinion: his non-fiction (essays, newspaper columns) superior to his novels
socially and politically committed but independent (did not join a political party)
Orwell was the one who coined the term “Cold War”

“Why I Write” (1946)

an autobiographical essay in which Orwell reflects on his life and career, outlines his
childhood and youth, his strong sense of an aesthetic vocation
his “four great motives for writing”: “sheer egoism”, “aesthetic enthusiasm”, “historical
impulse”, “political purpose”

I am a person in whom the first three motives would outweigh the fourth. In a peaceful age I
might have written ornate or merely descriptive books, and might have remained unaware of
my political loyalties. […] The Spanish war and other events in 1936-7 turned the scale and
thereafter I knew where I stood. Every line of serious work I have written since 1936 has been
written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I
understand it.

issues that especially concerned Orwell: imperialism, totalitarian ideologies, poverty and
unemployment (witnessed and recorded the consequences of the economic crisis of the
1930s), social injustice, tendency of the modern state to smother the individual
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life
real name: Eric Arthur Blair; at the age of 29 he changed it to George Orwell (Orwell is the
name of a river near the house where he lived in Suffolk), the change was an attempt to break
free of the past, adopt a new identity

born in Motihari in India (British colony), where his father worked in the Indian Civil Service
described his social background as “lower upper middle class”
sent to England to be educated as St. Cyprian’s (a public school), won a scholarship to Eton

1922 left England to serve in Burma, joined the Indian Imperial Police
had a sense of guilt over his involvement in imperialist practices (recognition that it is “wrong
to go and lord it in a foreign country where you are not wanted”), more and more ambivalence
about the legitimacy of imposing British rules on the Burmese
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“Shooting an Elephant” (1936)

a well-known essay inspired by Orwell’s experience as a police officer in Burma
he was called upon to kill an elephant which had temporarily gone berserk and become a
threat, then calmed down
Orwell describes how, trapped by conflicting emotions, he killed the animal against his
intentions, but feeling compelled to uphold his position as an imperial officer
the essay provides some insights into the mechanisms of imperialism:

In Moulmein, in lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people – the only time in my
life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me. I was sub-divisional police
officer of the town, and in an aimless, petty kind of way anti-European feeling was very bitter.

[…]
And it was at this moment, as I stood there with the rifle in my hands, that I first grasped the
hollowness, the futility of the white man’s dominion in the East. Here was I, the white man
with his gun, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd – seemingly the leading actor of
the piece; but in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those
yellow faces behind. I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his
own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the
conventionalized figure of a sahib. For it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend his
life in trying to impress the “natives,” and so in every crisis he has got to do what the
“natives” expect of him. He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it. I had got to shoot the
elephant.

1927 went back to England, resigned his commission in the police

determined to expiate his imperialist guilt, and write about tyranny and exploitation – which
he found at home (“my thoughts turned towards the English working class”)

turned to writing; his first novel, Burmese Days, published in 1934

started to work as a journalist

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although he came from a privileged social class, Orwell became an “honorary proletarian”,
living among working-class people, among the poor, unemployed and homeless, learning
about such experiences first-hand, which is reflected in his autobiographical narratives:

Down and Out in Paris and London (1933)

an account of trying to survive doing menial, ill-paid jobs

Orwell was commissioned by a publisher to investigate the situation of the working classes in
the north of England – travelled to Wigan near Manchester, published The Road to Wigan
Pier (1937)

1936 left for Spain to fight for the Republican cause

witnessed fierce rivalry among left-wing factions, Communist propaganda and hostility
against the non-Stalinists, the extent of Soviet intervention
became one of the fiercest critics of Communism and the Soviet Union
on return published Homage to Catalonia (1938) – combination of a personal record with an
account of the political situation and insightful analysis

Orwell’s book aroused resentment among leftists in Britain and elsewhere (a popular stance at
the time: support of the Soviet Union, ignorance of Communist crimes)

Orwell achieved enduring international fame with his last two novels, published after the
Second World War: Animal Farm and 1984

Orwell’s last years were plagued by ill health (unfit for service during WWII) – he died
prematurely of tuberculosis, seven months after the publication of 1984

Orwell’s novels
his novels in the 1930s – moderately good

first novel: Burmese Days (1934)

inspired by the writer’s service in the imperial police
portrayal of a British community in a small Burmese town, relations between the British and
the Burmese
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the protagonist John Flory, a British merchant, is alienated from both communities, feels
increasingly overwhelmed by the social and natural environment
critical treatment of imperialism

Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936)

the protagonist, Gordon Comstock, is an assistant bookseller in London and a struggling poet,
a disaffected young man who tries to survive in the years of the economic crisis

Coming up for Air (1939) – an important novel, strongly affected by the mood of the late
1930s
the protagonist George Bowling visits the town of his childhood which he recollect as idyllic,
but the journey is a disappointment – the place is so changed as to be almost unrecognisable

overall, the novel is pessimistic; on the one hand, it takes a wistful look at a world which is
gone and cannot be recreated, on the other hand, it is overshadowed by the approaching war

apart from his essays, Orwell’s fame rests on the two political novels published in the 1940s

Animal Farm (1945)

a novella written in the convention of an animal fable
intended to be a satire on the failure of Communist ideals in Russia and the true nature of the
Soviet Revolution

the plot: animals overthrow the tyrannous farm owner and establish a democratic community;
however, the pigs begin to dominate and impose their own rules or distort the original ones,
e.g. their original seven commandments, one of which says “All animals are equal”, are
reduced to one which reads “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than
others”.

political allegory in the novella: history comes full circle > democracy degenerates into
another form of totalitarianism; revolution ends in another tyranny and dictatorship, even
worse than the original one
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1984 (1949)

a dystopian novel, set in the near future

Britain is a Communist dictatorship, a totalitarian country (modelled on Stalinist Russia)
also, influence of Kafka may be detected in the presentation of an incomprehensible,
oppressive, frightening system
persecution, torture, murder, brainwashing are instruments of power
omnipresent surveillance deprives the citizens of any privacy

the country is ruled by the omnipowerful Party, and the leader Big Brother whose pictures
appear everywhere
citizens are constantly exposed to propaganda, forced to watch screens showing fake news
and pictures of Big Brother, the screens also monitor them – not possible to escape into
privacy
a world with sophisticated technology and poor standards of living
the country is a state of permanent war – another way of controlling the citizens
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the plot:
Winston Smith works at the Ministry of Truth – the aim of the Ministry is manipulation,
propaganda, constant rewriting of history
the name itself is misleading – Winston’s job is to alter historical records

the protagonist tries to be an individual in a totalitarian society – his rebellion takes the form
of writing a diary, having a relationship with Julia, reflecting critically on the social and
political organisation of his world, seeking privacy
his rebellion is mild, private
Winston finds an apparently kindred spirit in O’Brien but it turns out the Party has monitored
him all the time, O’Brien is a party agent
the outcome is tragic – he and Julia are subject to torture, brainwashing, eventually they
betray each other
a very pessimistic conclusion: at the end Winston is broken, totally deprived of any will to
resist, any identity; the last sentence: he loved Big Brother

one of the chief instruments of manipulation is Newspeak, or the language the party invents in
order to control people’s mentality

one of Orwell’s most influential essays is concerned with linguistic manipulation:

“Politics and the English Language” (1946)

deplores the contemporary decay and misuse of language

claims that corrupt language can corrupt thought

link to a documentary about 1984

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK5gsHEjJuY
Questions on the video:
the context in which Orwell wrote the book
the contemporary relevance of 1984

QUESTIONS
What issues does George Orwell address in his fiction and his non-fiction?
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What is his contribution to English literature and culture?

Apart from 1984, you should be familiar with the following titles:
Animal Farm
“Shooting an Elephant”
“Politics and the English Language”