13 questions · Literature
George Orwell (born Eric Arthur Blair in 1903 in British colonial India) wanted to make political writing an art: 'Good prose is like a windowpane.' The Eton graduate refused the expected career: first he served as a colonial policeman in Burma (growing ever more disgusted with imperialism), then voluntarily plunged into destitution, as a dishwasher in Paris, a tramp in London. Out of this came his first book, 'Down and Out in Paris and London', and the pen name: Orwell, after a river in Suffolk. In 1936 he went to the Spanish Civil War, fought on the Republican side and was nearly killed by a shot through the throat. More formative still: he witnessed Stalinist propaganda slandering its own allies. From then on Orwell wrote, as he said, 'against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism'. The result was two of the century's most influential books: 'Animal Farm' (1945), the fable of the pigs' revolution that devours its own ideals ('All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others') and 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (1949), the dystopia of the surveillance state of Oceania: Big Brother, the Thought Police, Newspeak, the Ministry of Truth where Winston Smith rewrites the past. Hardly any novel has pressed more terms into political language: 'Orwellian' is now a word in dozens of tongues. Orwell wrote 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' mortally ill on the Scottish Hebridean island of Jura; a year after publication, in 1950, he died of tuberculosis at 46. Did you know that 'Animal Farm' was initially rejected by several publishers: partly so as not to anger the wartime ally Stalin? One of the rejection letters was written by T. S. Eliot himself.
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1984
Published in 1949: Winston Smith rewrites the past in the Ministry of Truth.
💡 Did you know? Terms like “Big Brother,” “Newspeak” and “Thought Police” still shape debates about surveillance today.
Big Brother
Whether he exists remains open: his poster face watches every corner of Oceania.
💡 Did you know? “Big Brother is watching you” became a global catchphrase and even lent its name to a TV show.
Animal Farm
The parable of the betrayed Russian revolution appeared in 1945: Napoleon and Snowball mirror Stalin and Trotsky.
💡 Did you know? The fable is a thinly veiled satire of Stalin and the betrayal of the Russian Revolution.
All animals are equal, but some are more equal
Of the proud founding commandment 'All animals are equal' only the new masters' cynicism remains.
💡 Did you know? “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” became a byword for the hypocrisy of power.
Eric Blair
He chose the pseudonym after the River Orwell in Suffolk, for his destitution debut.
💡 Did you know? Eric Blair chose the pen name “George Orwell” partly after the English river Orwell.
a shot through the throat
He fought in the POUM militia (his reckoning): 'Homage to Catalonia'.
💡 Did you know? Orwell describes his Civil War experiences (including the neck wound) in “Homage to Catalonia.”
Newspeak
Without words for freedom, it can no longer be thought: Orwell's most radical idea about language.
💡 Did you know? “Newspeak” is designed to impoverish thought so that dissenting ideas become linguistically impossible.
as a policeman in Burma
His growing disgust with imperialism flowed into 'Burmese Days' and the essay 'Shooting an Elephant'.
💡 Did you know? His time as a colonial policeman made Orwell a lifelong opponent of imperialism and oppression.
He lived in destitution himself
'Down and Out in Paris and London' (1933): participant observation, long before the term.
💡 Did you know? For “Down and Out in Paris and London” Orwell chose to live as a dishwasher and tramp.
Jura
In the remote farmhouse Barnhill: a year after publication he died of tuberculosis.
💡 Did you know? On the remote Hebridean island of Jura the tubercular Orwell finished “1984”: shortly before his death.
Orwellian
Hardly any author pressed more terms into political language: Big Brother, Newspeak, doublethink, Room 101.
💡 Did you know? “Orwellian” is now the global synonym for state surveillance and the manipulation of language.
out of deference to Stalin
One rejection was written by T. S. Eliot himself, as an editor at Faber & Faber.
💡 Did you know? After the war's end the fable became a world success within months.
Foto: Branch of the National Union of Journalists (BNUJ). · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
George Orwell
George Orwell (1903 to 1950), born Eric Blair, was an English writer and journalist. With “1984” and “Animal Farm” he created the most influential political dystopias in world literature.
💡 Did you know? Orwell died of tuberculosis at just 46: a few months after the worldwide success of “1984.”
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