George Orwell, short biography. George Orwell short biography George Orwell years of life

George Orwell(George Orwell, real name Eric Arthur Blair, June 25, 1903 - January 21, 1950), English writer and publicist.

Biography

Born in Motihari (India) in the family of a British sales agent. Orwell studied at St. Cyprian, in 1917 he received a nominal scholarship and until 1921 attended Eton College. From 1922 to 1927 he served in the colonial police in Burma, then lived for a long time in the UK and Europe, living off odd jobs, at the same time he began to write fiction and journalism. From 1935 he published under the pseudonym "George Orwell". Member of the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 (book "In Memory of Catalonia", 1938, essay "Remembering the War in Spain", 1943, fully published in 1953), where he closely encountered manifestations of factional struggle among the left:

there, in 1936, history stopped for me. I knew from childhood that newspapers can lie, but only in Spain I saw that they can completely falsify reality, I personally participated in "battles" in which there was not a single shot and which were written about as heroic bloody battles, and I was in real fights that the press didn't say a word about, like they didn't exist. I saw fearless soldiers denounced by the newspapers as cowards and traitors, and cowards and traitors sung by them as heroes. When I returned to London, I saw how intellectuals build worldview systems and emotional relationships on this lie.

Orwell G. Homage to Catalonia and Looking back on the Spanish war. - L.: Secker & Warburg, 1968, p. 234

After returning from Spain, he wrote a book about the Spanish Civil War, but his longtime publisher Victor Gollancz refused to publish it, citing the fact that the book could harm the fight against fascism.

Wrote many essays and articles of socio-critical and culturological character. During World War II, he hosted an anti-fascist program on the BBC.

He died in London from tuberculosis.

People sacrifice their lives for the sake of certain communities - for the sake of the nation, the people, fellow believers, class - and comprehend that they have ceased to be individuals only at the very moment when the bullets whistle. If they felt a little deeper, and this devotion to the community would become a devotion to humanity itself, which is not an abstraction at all.

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World was an excellent caricature of a hedonistic utopia that seemed achievable, making people so willing to be deceived by their own conviction that the Kingdom of God must somehow become a reality on earth. But we must continue to be children of God, even if the God of the prayer books no longer exists.

— Essay "Thoughts on the Road" by J. Orwell (1943)

And here is the second thing that I remember: an Italian from the police who greeted me on the day I joined it. I wrote about him on the first pages of my book about the Spanish war, and I do not want to repeat myself here. As soon as I mentally see in front of me - completely alive! - this Italian in a greasy uniform, it is worth looking into this stern, spiritual, immaculate face, and all the complex calculations regarding the war lose their meaning, because I know one thing for sure: there could then be no doubt on whose side the truth was. Whatever political intrigues were woven, whatever lies were written in the newspapers, the main thing in this war was the desire of people like my Italian to find a decent life, which - they understood this - everyone deserves from birth. It is bittersweet to think about what fate awaited this Italian, and for several reasons at once. Since we met in the military camp named after Lenin, he apparently belonged either to the Trotskyists or to the anarchists, and in our unusual time such people are certainly killed - not by the Gestapo, but by the GPU. This, of course, fits into the overall situation with all its enduring problems. The face of this Italian, whom I saw in passing, remained for me a visible reminder of what the war was about. I perceive him as a symbol of the European working class, which is persecuted by the police of all countries, as the embodiment of the people - the one that lay in mass graves on the fields of Spanish battles, the one that is now driven into labor camps, where there are already several million prisoners ...

... All the confusing observations, all the sweet talk of some Pétain or Gandhi, and the need to stain oneself with meanness by fighting in the war, and the ambiguous role of England with its democratic slogans, as well as an empire where coolies work, and a sinister move of life in Soviet Russia, and the pitiful farce of left politics—all this turns out to be insignificant if you see the main thing: the struggle of the people gradually gaining consciousness with the owners, with their paid liars, with their drinkers. The question is simple. Will people like that Italian soldier recognize a worthy, truly human life, which today can be provided, or is it not given to them? Will ordinary people be driven back into the slums, or will it fail? I myself, perhaps without sufficient reason, believe that sooner or later a common person will win its fight, and I want it to happen not later, but earlier - say, in the next hundred years, and not in the next ten millennia. This was the real aim of the war in Spain, this is the real aim of the present war and possible future wars.

— Essay "Remembering the War in Spain" by J. Orwell (1943)

Creation

In the story Animal Farm (1945) he showed the rebirth of revolutionary principles and programs: Animal Farm is a parable, an allegory for the 1917 revolution and subsequent events in Russia.

The dystopian novel 1984 (1949) became a continuation of Animal Farm. Orwell portrayed a possible future world society as a totalitarian hierarchical system based on sophisticated physical and spiritual enslavement, permeated with universal fear and hatred. This book featured the infamous "Big Brother is Watching You" and introduced the well-known terms Doublethink, Thoughtcrime, and Newspeak.

Interesting Facts

* Despite the fact that many see Orwell's works as a satire of the totalitarian system, the authorities themselves were suspected for a long time of having close ties with the communists. As the dossier on the writer declassified in 2007 showed, the British counterintelligence MI-5 from 1929 until almost the writer's death in 1950 kept him under surveillance. For example, in one of the dossier notes dated January 20, 1942, Agent Sgt Ewing describes Orwell as follows: “This man is spreading communist beliefs, and some of his Indian friends say that they often saw him at communist meetings. He dresses bohemian both at work and at leisure. "(Eng. "This man has advanced communist views, and several of his Indian friends say that they have often seen him at communist meetings. He dresses in bohemian fashion both at his office and in his leisure hours"). According to the documents, the writer did take part in such meetings, and he was described as "sympathetic to the communists."

George Orwell is a British writer and publicist, a man who, like many members of the European intellectual elite, was an ardent supporter of the left, but then completely disillusioned with socialism. For Orwell's books in the Soviet Union, you could get a prison sentence.

George Orwell is a writer's pseudonym, the real name of the writer is Eric Arthur Blair. He was born in 1903, in Bengal (part of India), in the family of a petty British official who served in the Opium Department. In 1904 he returned with his mother to Great Britain. The future writer received his primary education at St. Cyprian, from 1917 to 1921 he attended Eton College, where he received a nominal scholarship. Already at the age of 11, his poem was published in one of the English newspapers. From 1922 to 1927, the future writer served in the Burmese colonial police, but Orwell's quarrelsome nature led to his resignation. Much later, this part of his life will be displayed in the writer's work ("Shooting the Elephant"). In 1927 he returned to Europe.

Since that time, Orwell began active writing, he writes prose and journalism. He makes a living doing odd jobs. Leads a poor, difficult existence, sometimes engaged in vagrancy. One day, Orwell got drunk on purpose in order to find himself in prison and find out what it was like there. The writer takes on any low-paid job: a dishwasher, an auxiliary worker, an assistant book dealer. He later depicted this period in his book Down and Out in Paris and London. It was also at this time that his literary pseudonym was born. During this period, he becomes close to representatives of the left political forces. In 1936, the writer marries, and six months later he leaves for the war in Spain, as a special correspondent for one of the English publications. After some time, he joins a partisan detachment, consisting of socialists of the Trotskyist persuasion. Orwell's wife followed him to Spain.

He was in the war for six months, then he received a serious wound in the throat. Orwell became seriously disillusioned with leftist ideas, facing internal strife among the leadership of the movement. His former comrades-in-arms were declared "Trotskyists" and the Spanish communists themselves began to hunt for them. Orwell had to flee Spain. It was then that his views began to change, and gradually he began to turn from a socialist into a bourgeois liberal and an ardent anti-communist. In Spain, Orwell had to face Stalin-style communism, and he hated it. Later, he will describe the events of the Spanish Civil War, in which he happened to participate (the story "Memory of Catalonia").

After the outbreak of World War II, Orwell served in the militia, worked for the BBC, where he led an anti-fascist program and was a correspondent for the British newspaper The Observer.

At the end of 1943, he begins writing the story Animal Farm. It describes the Soviet Union and all the events that took place after the 1917 revolution without any embellishment. The satire was so deadly and frank that the story was refused to be printed in England and the USA (the USSR was an ally against Hitler). Animal Farm was first published in 1945. This year, the writer's wife suddenly dies, and he moves to a small island, where he begins to work on the main work of his life - the novel "1984".

"1984" is a cult dystopian novel that shows what a state that follows a totalitarian path of development can turn into. There is no bright and beautiful future in Orwell's novel, it depicts a society in which the state controls everything: the economy, politics, the media, a person's personal life, and even his thoughts and actions. Many words and expressions from the book have long become recognizable quotes. In the USSR, the books "Animal Farm" and "1984" were called nothing more than "ideological sabotage aimed at undermining the Soviet system."

George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair) - British writer and essayist - was born June 25, 1903 in Motihari (India) in the family of an employee of the Opium Department of the British colonial administration of India - British intelligence, engaged in the control of the production and storage of opium before its export to China. His father's position is "Assistant to the Junior Deputy Commissioner of the Opium Department, Fifth Class Officer".

He received his primary education at St. Cyprian (Eastbourne), where he studied from 8 to 13 years. In 1917 received a scholarship and before 1921 attended Eton College. From 1922 to 1927 served in the colonial police in Burma, then spent a long time in the UK and Europe, living on odd jobs, at the same time he began to write fiction and journalism. Already in Paris, he came with the firm intention of becoming a writer. Starting with the story based on autobiographical material "Pounds dashing in Paris and London" ( 1933 ), published under the pseudonym "George Orwell".

Already at the age of 30, he will write in verse: "I am a stranger in this time."

In 1936 married, and six months later, together with his wife, he went to the Aragonese front of the Spanish Civil War. Fighting in the ranks of the militia formed by the anti-Stalinist communist party POUM, he encountered manifestations of factional struggle among the left. He spent almost half a year in the war until he was wounded in the throat by a fascist sniper in Huesca. Arriving from Spain to Great Britain as a left-wing opponent of Stalinism, he joined the Independent Labor Party.

During World War II, he hosted an anti-fascist program on the BBC.

The first major work of Orwell (and the first work signed by this pseudonym) was the autobiographical story "Pounds Dashing in Paris and London", published by in 1933. This story, based on real events of the author's life, consists of two parts. The first part describes the life of a poor man in Paris, where he supported himself with odd jobs, mainly working as a dishwasher in restaurants. The second part describes homeless life in and around London.

The second work is the story "Days in Burma" (published in 1934) - also based on autobiographical material: from 1922 to 1927 Orwell served in the colonial police force in Burma. The stories “How I Shot an Elephant” and “Execution by Hanging” were written on the same colonial material.

During the Spanish Civil War, Orwell fought on the side of the Republicans in the ranks of the POUM, a party that was outlawed in June 1937 for "assisting the Nazis." About these events, he wrote a documentary novel "Memory of Catalonia" (Homage to Catalonia; 1936 ) and the essay “Remembering the War in Spain” ( 1943 , fully published in 1953).

In the story "Animal Farm" ( 1945 ) the writer showed the rebirth of revolutionary principles and programs. Animal Farm is a parable, an allegory for the 1917 revolution and subsequent events in Russia.

Dystopian novel "1984" ( 1949 ) became the ideological continuation of Animal Farm, in which Orwell portrayed a possible future world society as a totalitarian hierarchical system based on sophisticated physical and spiritual enslavement, permeated with universal fear, hatred and denunciation.

He also wrote many essays and articles of a socio-critical and cultural nature.

A complete 20-volume collected works of Orwell (The Complete Works of George Orwell) has been published in the UK. Orwell's works translated into 60 languages

Works of art:
1933 - the story "Down and Out in Paris and London" -Down and Out in Paris and London
1934 - novel "Days in Burma" - Burmese Days
1935 - A Clergyman's Daughter novel
1936 - the novel "Long live the ficus!" - Keep the Aspidistra Flying
1937 - the story "The Road to Wigan Pier" - The Road to Wigan Pier
1939 - the novel "A breath of air" - Coming Up for Air
1945 - fairy tale "Animal Farm" - Animal Farm
1949 - novel "1984" - Nineteen Eighty-Four

Memoirs and documentaries:
Pounds dashing in Paris and London ( 1933 )
Road to Wigan Pier 1937 )
In memory of Catalonia ( 1938 )

Poems:
Awake! Young Men of England 1914 )
Ballade ( 1929 )
A Dressed Man and a Naked Man 1933 )
A Happy Vicar I Might Have Been 1935 )
Ironic Poem About Prostitution (written by before 1936 )
kitchener ( 1916 )
The Lesser Evil 1924 )
(A Little Poem) 1935 )
On a Ruined Farm Near the His Master's Voice Gramophone Factory ( 1934 )
Our Minds Are Married, but We Are Too Young ( 1918 )
The Pagan 1918 )
Poem from Burma 1922 - 1927 )
Romance ( 1925 )
Sometimes in the Middle Autumn Days 1933 )
Suggested by a Toothpaste Advertisement ( 1918-1919 )
Summer-like for an instant ( 1933 )

Journalism, stories, articles:
How I shot an elephant
Execution by hanging
Memoirs of a bookseller
Tolstoy and Shakespeare
Literature and totalitarianism
Remembering the war in Spain
Suppression of literature
Confessions of a reviewer
Notes on Nationalism
Why am I writing
The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius
English
Politics and English
Lear, Tolstoy and the jester
About the joy of childhood...
Apart from black
Marrakesh
My country, right or left
Thoughts on the way
Frontiers of Art and Propaganda
Why Socialists Don't Believe in Happiness
Sour revenge
In defense of English cuisine
A cup of excellent tea
How the poor die
Writers and Leviathan
In defense of P.G. Wodehouse

Reviews:
Charles Dickens
Review of "Mein Kampf" by Adolf Hitler
Tolstoy and Shakespeare
Wells, Hitler and the World State
Foreword to Jack London's Love Life and Other Stories
Art by Donald McGill
sworn amusing
The Privilege of Spiritual Shepherds: Notes on Salvador Dali
Arthur Koestler
Review of "WE" E.I. Zamyatin
Politics against literature. A look at Gulliver's Travels
James Burnham and the Managerial Revolution
Reflections on Gandhi

Eric Arthur Blair was born in the city of Motihari, India, whose territory at that time was a British colony. His father held one of the rank-and-file positions in the Opium Department of the colony administration, and his mother was the only daughter of a tea merchant from Burma. While still a child, Eric, along with his mother and older sister, went to England, where the boy was educated - first in primary school Eastbourne, and then at the prestigious Eton College, where he studied on a special scholarship. After graduating from college in 1921, the young man devoted himself for five years (1922-1927) to the Burmese police, but dissatisfaction with imperial rule led to his resignation. This period in the life of Eric Blair, who very soon took the pseudonym George Orwell, was marked by one of his most famous novels, Days in Burma, which was published in 1936 already under a pseudonym.

After Burma, young and free, he went to Europe, where he lived on a piece of bread from one casual job to another, and upon returning home, he firmly decided to become a writer for himself. At this time, Orwell wrote an equally impressive novel, Pounds of Dash in Paris and London, which tells about his life in two of the largest cities in Europe. This creation consisted of two parts, each of which described the brightest moments of his life in each of the capitals.

Beginning of a writing career

In 1936, Orwell, already a married man at that time, went to Spain with his wife, where the Civil War. After spending about a year in the war zone, he returned to the UK involuntarily - a wound by a fascist sniper right in the throat required treatment and further removal from hostilities. While in Spain, Orwell fought in the ranks of the militia formed by the anti-Stalinist communist party POUM, a Marxist organization that had existed in Spain since the early 1930s. This period in the life of the writer is dedicated to whole book- “In honor of Catalonia” (1937), in which he talks in detail about his days at the front.

However, the British publishers did not appreciate the book, subjecting it to severe censorship - Orwell had to "cut out" any statements that spoke of terror and complete lawlessness that was happening in the republican country. The editor-in-chief was adamant - under the conditions of fascist aggression, it was impossible to cast even the slightest shadow on socialism, and even more so on the abode of this phenomenon - the USSR - in no case. The book nevertheless saw the world in 1938, but was perceived rather coldly - the number of copies sold during the year did not exceed 50 pieces. This war made Orwell an avid opponent of communism, deciding to join the ranks of the English socialists.

civil position

Orwell's writings from early 1936, by his own admission in Why I Write (1946), had anti-totalitarian overtones and extolled democratic socialism. In the eyes of the writer, the Soviet Union was one big disappointment, and the revolution that took place in the Land of Soviets, in his opinion, not only did not bring a classless society to power as promised earlier by the Bolsheviks, but vice versa - even more ruthless and unprincipled people were “at the helm” than before. Orwell, not hiding his hatred, spoke about the USSR, and considered Stalin to be the real embodiment of evil.

When in 1941 it became known about the German attack on the USSR, Orwell could not have imagined that very soon Churchill and Stalin would become allies. At this time, the writer kept a military diary, the entries in which tell of his indignation, and after being surprised to himself: “I never thought that I would live to see the days when I had to say “Glory to Comrade Stalin!”, But I did live!”, he wrote after a while.

Orwell sincerely hoped that as a result of the war, socialists would come to power in Great Britain, moreover, ideological socialists, and not formal ones, as often happened. However, this did not happen. The events unfolding in the writer's homeland and in the world as a whole oppressed Orwell, and the constant growth of the influence of the Soviet Union drove him into a protracted depression. The death of his wife, who was his ideological inspirer and closest person, finally “knocked down” the writer. However, life went on and he had to put up with it.

The main works of the author

George Orwell was one of the few authors of that time who not only did not sing odes to the Soviet Union, but also tried to describe in all colors the horror of the Soviet system. Orwell's main "opponent" in this conditional competition of ideologies was Hewlett Johnson, who received the nickname "Red Rector" in his native England - he praised Stalin in every work, expressing admiration for the country that obeyed him in every possible way. Orwell managed to win, albeit a formal one, in this unequal battle, but, unfortunately, already posthumously.

The book Animal Farm, written by the writer between November 1943 and February 1944, was an obvious satire on the Soviet Union, which at that time was still an ally of Great Britain. Not a single publisher undertook to print this work. Everything changed with the start of the Cold War - Orwell's satire was finally appreciated. The book, which most saw as a satire on the Soviet Union, was for the most part a satire on the West itself. Orwell did not have to see the huge success and millions of sales of his book - the recognition was already posthumous.

The Cold War changed the lives of many, especially those who supported the policies and order of the Soviet Union - now they either completely disappeared from the radar, or changed their position to a sharply opposite one. The novel 1984, previously written but not published by Orwell, came in very handy, which was later called the “canonical anti-communist work”, the “Cold War manifesto” and many other epithets, which, undoubtedly, were recognition of Orwell’s writing talent.

Animal Farm and 1984 are dystopias written by one of the greatest publicists and writers in history. Narrating mainly about the horrors and consequences of totalitarianism, they, fortunately, were not prophetic, but it is simply impossible to deny the fact that at the present time they are acquiring a completely new sound.

Personal life

In 1936, George Orwell married Elin O'Shaughnessy, with whom they went through many trials, including the Spanish war. Couple's own children long years living together never acquired, and only in 1944 they adopted a one-month-old boy, who was given the name Richard. However, very soon the joy was replaced by great grief - on March 29, 1945, during the operation, Elin died. Orwell endured the loss of his wife painfully, for a certain time he even became a hermit, settling on an almost deserted island, on the coast of Scotland. It was during this difficult time that the writer completed the novel "1984".

A year before his death, in 1949, Orwell married a second time to a girl named Sonya Bronel, who was 15 years his junior. Sonya at that time worked as an assistant editor in the Horizon magazine. However, the marriage lasted only three months - on January 21, 1950, the writer died in the ward of one of the London hospitals from tuberculosis. Shortly before that, his creation "1984" saw the world.

• Orwell is in fact the author of the term "Cold War", which is often used in the political sphere to this day.
• Despite the clearly expressed anti-totalitarian position expressed by the writer in every work, for some time he was suspected of having links with the communists.
• The Soviet slogan heard by Orwell at one time from the lips of the communists “Give five years in four years!” was used in the novel "1984" in the form of the famous formula "twice two equals five". The phrase once again ridiculed the Soviet regime.
• In the post-war period, George Orwell hosted a program on the BBC, which covered a wide variety of topics - from political to social.

An ardent opponent of the Stalinist regime and communism, a defender of democratic socialism, who fought in the Second World War on the side of the USSR, this writer became one of the most controversial people of his time. Having staged a revolt against the society to which he so aspired, he wrote about himself that he was a stranger in this world and time.

Childhood and youth

Eric Arthur Blair (creative pseudonym George Orwell) was born in Motihari (Bihar, India) on June 25, 1903. Eric's father was an official in the department that controlled the production and storage of opium. The biography is silent about the mother of the future writer. According to contemporaries, the boy grew up in an authoritarian family: as a child, he sympathized with a girl from a poor family, but his mother severely cut off their communication, and his son did not dare to argue with her.

At the age of eight he entered English school for boys, where he studied until the age of 13. At the age of 14, Eric won a nominal scholarship, thanks to which he entered a private British school for boys - Eton College. After graduating from school, Eric Arthur joined the Myanmar (formerly Burma) police force. Disillusioned with the political system modern society, Blair went to Europe, where he lived at the expense of low-skilled jobs. Later, the writer will reflect this stage of his life in his works.

Literature

Having discovered his literary talent, Blair moved to Paris and began writing books. There he published the first story "Pounds of Dash in Paris and London", where he described his adventures during his life in Europe. In the UK, the writer wandered, and in France he washed dishes in Parisian restaurants. The first version of the book was called "The Dishwasher's Diary" and described the author's life in France. However, the writer was refused by the publisher, after which he added London adventures to the book and turned to another publisher, where he again faced a refusal.

Only on the third attempt did the publicist and publisher Viktor Gollants appreciate Blair's work and accept the manuscript for publication. In 1933, the story was published, becoming the first work of the then unknown George Orwell. To the surprise of the author, critics reacted favorably to his work, but readers were in no hurry to purchase the already limited edition of the book.

V. Nedoshivin, a researcher of Orwell's work, noted that Orwell, disappointed with the social system, staged a personal rebellion following the example. And in 1933, the writer himself said that he felt like a stranger in the modern world.

Returning to England from Spain after being wounded, Orwell joined the Independent Labor Party, which supported the development of socialism. At the same time, sharp criticism of the Stalinist totalitarian regime manifested itself in the writer's worldview. At the same time, George publishes his second work - the novel "Days in Burma".

The work was first published in the United States. This book also reflects a certain period of the author's life, specifically - the service in the police unit. The author continued this theme in the stories "Execution by hanging" and "How I shot an elephant."

Orwell described participation in hostilities in Spain in the ranks of the Marxist party in the little-known story "In Memory of Catalonia". During World War II, the writer was on the side of the USSR, despite the rejection of the regime of the Soviet leader. By the way, criticizing literary works and journalistic notes of the policy of the USSR, Orwell himself never visited the Soviet Union in his entire life, and the British secret services even suspected him of political ties with the Communists.

At the end of hostilities and the liberation of Europe from the Nazis, Orwell wrote the political satire Animal Farm. Researchers of George's work consider the basis of the story in two ways. On the one hand, taking into account the author's worldview, literary critics argue that Animal Farm denounces the events of the 1917 Revolution in Russia and the events that followed it. The story vividly and allegorically describes how the ideology of the ruling elite changes during the revolution.

On the other hand, after the victory of the USSR in World War II, Orwell's political views underwent a number of changes, and the story may reflect events in the UK. Despite the discrepancies of critics and researchers, the story was published in the Soviet Union only during perestroika.

The plot of Animal Farm was based on a situation that the writer once witnessed. In the English countryside, George saw a boy prodding a horse with a cane. Then Orwell first came up with the idea that if animals had consciousness, they would have long ago got rid of the oppression of a much weaker person.

Five years later, George Orwell wrote a novel that brought him worldwide fame. This is a dystopian book. This genre came into vogue earlier, after the publication of the novel Brave New World. However, if Huxley runs far ahead, describing the events of the 26th century and focuses on the caste of society and the cult of consumption, Orwell dwells in more detail on the description of the totalitarian regime, a topic that interested the writer at the very beginning of his career.

A number of literary scholars and critics accuse Orwell of plagiarizing the ideas reflected in the Soviet writer's novel We, and George's essay does contain information about intentions to write his own work based on Zamyatin's ideas. After Orwell's death, two films of the same name were made based on the novel.

It was from under the pen of Orwell that the expression "Big Brother is watching you" that became popular came out. In the novel "1984" by "Big Brother" the author meant the leader of the totalitarian regime of the future. The plot of the dystopia is tied around the Ministry of Truth, which, with the help of two minutes of hatred, as well as the introduction of Newspeak, programs the society. Against the backdrop of totalitarianism, a fragile love develops between the main character Winston and a young girl, Julia, who, however, is not destined to defeat the regime.

Why the author called the novel "1984" is unknown. Some critics insist that the author believed that by 1984 society would have the form described in the novel, if there were no global changes in the social order. However, the generally accepted version is that the title of the novel reflects the year of its writing - 1948, but with the last digits mirrored.

Given that the society described in the novel allegorically hinted at the regime of the USSR, the book was banned on the territory of the Soviet Union, and the writer himself was accused of ideological sabotage. And already by 1984, when the course for perestroika was set in the USSR, Orwell's work was revised and presented to readers as a struggle against the ideology of imperialism.

Personal life

Despite the complete lack of stability in life, Orwell managed to find his happiness and arrange his personal life. In 1936, the writer married Eileen O "Shaughnessy. The couple did not have their own children, but they adopted a boy named Richard Horatio.

George Orwell and Eileen O'Shaughnessy with son Richard

Six months later, the newlyweds decided to take part in the armed conflict between the Second Spanish Republic and the opposition military-nationalist dictatorship, which was supported by the government of fascist Italy. Six months later, the writer was seriously injured, as a result of which he was hospitalized. Orwell never returned to the front.

George's wife died suddenly in 1945. Loss of the only loved one broke the writer, in addition, he himself had health problems. As a result of the misfortunes that followed him, George retired to a small island and concentrated on creating a novel, the idea of ​​which he had been hatching for many years.

Since the writer was burdened by loneliness, he proposed a "companion" marriage to four women. Only Sonia Brownell agreed. They got married in the fall of 1949, but lived together for only three months due to the imminent death of Orwell.

Death of George Orwell

Making edits to the dystopian novel "1984", George referred to a sharp deterioration in well-being. In the summer of 1948, the writer left for a remote island in Scotland, where he planned to finish work on the work.

Every day it was harder for Orwell to work because of the progressing tuberculosis. Returning to London, George Orwell died on January 21, 1950.

Bibliography

• 1933 - "Pounds dashing in Paris and London"
• 1934 - "Days in Burma"
• 1935 - The Priest's Daughter
• 1936 - "Long live the ficus!"
• 1937 - "Road to Wigan Pier"
• 1939 - "A breath of air"
• 1945 - Animal Farm
• 1949 - "1984"

Quotes

“All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others."

"Leaders who frighten their people with blood, toil, tears and sweat are more trustworthy than politicians who promise prosperity and well-being"

"Each generation considers itself smarter than the previous one and wiser than the next"

“The truth is that for many people who call themselves socialists, the revolution does not mean the movement of the masses with whom they hope to associate themselves; it means a set of reforms that "we", the smart ones, are going to impose on "them", beings of a lower order"

“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past."