George Orwell
Eric High Blair
(1903-1950)
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Biographical Information
Date of Birth: June
25,1903
Place of Birth: Motihari,
India
Died at age 46 in London,
England
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Buried in a “country churchyard,” in an
Oxfordshire village where the Astors had
an estate
Schooling
• Sent to an expensive English preparatory school
in England
• He was accepted at a reduced tuition rate because
he was considered lower-upper-middle class and
was treated as a “charity case” by his snobby
peers and the headmaster and his wife
• As a result of this, his life was marked by a
constant sense of failure, and a feeling that the
rich and powerful made all of the rules in life.
These feelings caused him to identify with the
underdog and sympathize with victims of poverty
Schooling Continued…..
• In spite of this, he won a
scholarship to Eton
College in England –
graduated in 1921
• Had a freer academic
climate – got involved
with popular liberal and
socialist ideals
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Political Work
Served as a policeman with the Indian
Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to
1927
• Disliked his role because he was
exercising power over the people of
Burma
• Returned to Europe to become a writerHe lived for several years in poverty
among the working-class
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Political Work Continued…..
• In 1936, at the age of 33, Orwell went to Spain to write a
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newspaper articles about the Spanish Civil War
However, he had joined the Republican forces in the war
instead – a group that was trying to overthrow Spain’s
government
This group was backed by communists- Orwell was critical of
Communism but basically considered himself a Socialist
Orwell actually fought the Communists when the Republican
cause split, but was wounded and eventually had to flee Spain
for his life – the Communists had outlawed the group he was a
part of
Orwell documented many of his experiences during the
Spanish Civil War in his Homage to Catalonia.
Propaganda
• During the Second World War,
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Orwell wrote a weekly radio
political commentary, for the
British Broadcasting Company
(BBC)
• Used propaganda to make
Russia’s Communist ways look
good (Russia was an ally of
UK’s in the war against Nazi
Germany)
• Many believe that this
experience provided the
inspiration for his invention of
"newspeak," the truth-denying
language of Big Brother's rule
in his novel Nineteen EightyFour
Orwell the Author
• Feeling let down by the Communists,
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Orwell figured that revolutions failed,
because those who get power are
corrupted by it – a theme found in all his
writings
• Orwell's various experiences with
totalitarian political regimes had a direct
impact on his prose. Orwell's best-known
books reflect his opposition to
totalitarianism: Animal Farm and Nineteen
Eighty-Four. In an article entitled, "Why I
Write" Orwell would explain:
• "Every line of serious work that I have
written since 1936 has been written,
directly or indirectly, against
totalitarianism...Animal Farm was the first
book in which I tried, with full
consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse
political purpose and artistic purpose into
one whole."
Orwell’s Idea
“Power always corrupts,
and therefore, revolutions
always fail. New masters
are always corrupted by
new power. In other
words: ABSOLUTE
POWER CORRUPTS
ABSOLUTELY.”
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Orwell’s Style
• Uses lots of literary devices such as similes,
metaphors, personification, onomatopoeia and
especially irony, symbolism, and satire
• Honest writing – stories are told
straightforwardly and logically; tells it like it is
and reader has to accept it or not
• Uses propaganda techniques
• Humorous and sarcastic
Animal Farm
“All Animals are created equal. But some animals are created
more equal.“
Animal Farm, George Orwell
• Written in closing years of WWII.
• Published in 1945 – got rejected
several times before because of content
and theme
• Before he worked for the BBC, he
lived in a small village with his wife
where they kept chickens, geese, and
goats as well as grew vegetables. Some
of the places and characters are based
on the area.
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Animal Farm Continued…..
• Not just a simple animal fable
Has 3 levels:
1.) An animal story
2.) A history of the Soviet Union
3.) A general discussion on the political and social
revolutions that take place all over the world at anytime
and how abuse of power follows in all revolutions
• Purpose of writing Animal Farm was to warn the world
about the dangers of totalitarianism and to poke fun of
people who think a perfect society is possible – Uses the
literary device of Satire to do this.
Why Should We Read Animal
Farm???
• This book develops VERY important critical thinking
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skills that relates to every day life
Through this book, we learn how to critically
evaluate information instead of blindly accepting
what we are told
We are inspired to challenge injustices and not be
intimidated by slogans, fear, etc.
The book may have been inspired by the past but
TODAY we are still given false information and
people try to get us to act out of fear or through
intimidation (eg: ‘children overboard’ affair)
Orwell reminds us that the weak get exploited or
taken advantage of by the strong everywhere in the
world
What Can I Gain from Reading
Animal Farm?
• The question is NOT “Could this happen
again?” but, “Do you realize it still is
happening today?”
• We need to constantly ask how people in
today’s society are exploited and taken
advantage of through propaganda
techniques, advertising, slogans, and the
media in general
• Propaganda causes fear in others and is used
as an intimidation tool
Studying this book will help you:
• critically evaluate info,
• avoid being manipulated, and
• challenge you to base decisions on facts
instead of emotions and "group think"
What to Expect from Animal Farm
• On the surface Animal Farm may seem childish and
unrealistic (like the movie Babe)
• but it's certainly NOT kids' stuff
Be prepared to be:
• Surprised
• Challenged
• Moved
• Intrigued
• Enlightened