The Life and Works of George Orwell
Zach Garrett
English 12
Diane Leazer
April 11, 2014
The Life and Works of George Orwell
Thesis Statement: Financial struggles in the first half of George Orwell's life greatly affected how he lived and influenced his writings.
l. Childhood of George Orwell
A. Grade School
B. College ll. Life after college
A. Moving away from home and joining the workforce
B. Moving back home to try to find new work lll. Literary works
A. Animal Farm
B. Nineteen Eighty Four
The Life and Works of George Orwell
Eric Authur Blair, better known by his pen name, George Orwell, was born on January 23, 1903 at Motihari in Bengal. Orwell was brought up in what he considered a less fortunate family when it came to money. Only a few days after his only son's birth, Orwell's father, Richard Blair, retired from his position as a minor official in the Indian Customs with a small pension. The lack of wealth in his family growing up caused Orwell to see the world in different class distinctions. Everyone and everything Orwell faced in the earlier stages of his life, he immediately judged based on its place in the different financial levels of society. He found it a huge misfortune that he classified his own family as “ the lower-upper-middle class”. (British Writers, V7, 273-276)
Orwell attended a small preparatory school on the south coast of Bengal, where he felt out of place because the others in the school were much better off than he was. Because of the way he viewed the world thro...
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...iter in the sense that he knew how to make the readers think the same way he does, through the characters they were following.
The last few months of his life were spent with his second wife, Sonia Brownell. He had known her for a few years because she was an editorial assistant on the magazine Horizon, which was involved in the publication of some of his essays. Orwell planned to continue writing, but to break away from his political works, and focus more on the treatment of human relationships. He actually began writing a new story in his altered writing style, but was never able to finish. On January 23, 1950 at the age of forty-six, Orwell died following a tubercular hemorrhage. Although he was not able to continue writing, George Orwell will always be remembered as one of the most unique and talented writers in the history of his time (Orwell, Shelden).
This essay is distinctly about how life experiences alter the way in which your writings travel. The ups and downs of life will determine the perspective you see of your life, in turn, determining how you feel or express yourself. Orwell states, “his subject matter will be determined by the age he lives in – at least this is true in tumultuous, revolutionary ages like our own” (265). This statement proves how writing develops with age and how through different time periods, has evolved. Orwell's essay focuses on the indirect wants.
Living through the war and its enormous political shifts, Eric Blair was a figure whose pessimism was significantly impacted by the postwar period. But what was born of Blair was a more significant person known as George Orwell, who challenged the political views of his time by writing 1984, which stands as one of the most powerful political novels of the Modernist era written to expose the horrors of totalitarianism and impact the political thinking of the 20th Century.
George Orwell wrote his novel in 1948, “inspired” by the communistic regime in the Soviet Union Russia and the future of the socialism. His novels had gained extraordinary popularity in America during the years of Cold War. The novel shows the dark realm of the communism and fitted well into American’s perception of the terrors of the Soviet Unio...
...en into organizations that brainwashes and encourages them to spy on their parents and report any instance of disloyalty to the Party much like Orwell’s experience in the Civil war. The fact that a portion of the populations suffered poverty while others bathed in wealth reinforces the strong hierarchal system imposed. Orwell’s attitudes surrounding sociocultural context are prominent throughout 1984 and strengthens the invited reading that power is problematic.
Orwell later moved on to Spain where he joined the Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista (POUM), or the Workers’ Party for Marxist Unity, and began his belief in socialism. When he arrived in Barcelona, he noticed an almost complete elimination of the social class structure: “Waiters and shop-walkers looked you in the face and treated you as an equal. Everyone called everyone else Comrade and Thou…. In outward appearance, the wealthy had practically ceased to exist…. In some ways I did not...
1. Orwell’s thesis is that cause and effect are closely related, which is implied and stated.
Howe, Tom. "George Orwell." British Writers Volume VII. Ed. Ian Scott-Kilvert. New York: Scribner, 1984. 273-287.
Brown, and Oldsey. ed. Critical Essays on George Orwell. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1986.
Orwell’s writing showed he practiced what he preached. His use of metaphors created a picture in the reader’s mind. His essay stated clearly and concisely what is wrong with English writers and what is needed to be done to repair it.
This is a remarkable book of objective description as well as of rhetoric. While he does have a bias, he is still able to recognize points on either side. Orwell had the rare courage to overcome centuries of class prejudice to live among and respect the people his peers could casually dismiss. He shows us the role that the middle class play in creating these deplorable conditions.
Many of the lower class band together to survive in an inhospitable world. While in poverty, Orwell experiences first hand the b...
Orwell, George. “Politics and the English Language.” George Orwell: Critical Essays. London: Harvill Secker: 2009. 270-286. Print.
And he debates that the end of the Cold War is “an ideal context for a reassessment of Orwell 's political ideas” (Newsinger ix). Newsinger gives us a map of Orwell 's intellectual terrain, and deftly orientates the reader around the key Orwellian debates which run around the idea of war and revolution against inequality and dictatorship. He examines how Orwell 's politics developed in a changing world. Newsinger 's argument is that, although Orwell 's politics shifted throughout his lifetime, the one constant was his unwavering socialism. What detractors - and even some admirers - have missed is that he never ceased to write from within the left, attacking the betrayal of the revolution rather than the revolution
Based on the two essays, George Orwell is a vivid writer who uses a unique point of view and strong themes of pride and role playing to convey his messages. His writings are easy to pick out because of the strengths of these messages. Just like politicians in government, people with power turn corrupt to stay in power and keep their reputations. Anyone who takes on power must be prepared to live with the consequences of his actions. Orwell knows this challenge well and conveys this principle in his writing. After all, his narration is based on real life experiences and not fictional fantasies.
... Orwell Biography - A Biography of George Orwell." George Orwell - Complete Works, Biography, Quotes, Essays. Web. 01 Mar. 2011. .