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A Biography of George Orwell

A Biography of George Orwell. “Men can only be happy when they do not assume that the object of life is happiness.”. Real Name—Eric Arthur Blair. Lived 1903-1950 Born in India Moved to England as a small child

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A Biography of George Orwell

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  1. A Biography of George Orwell “Men can only be happy when they do not assume that the object of life is happiness.”

  2. Real Name—Eric Arthur Blair • Lived 1903-1950 • Born in India • Moved to England as a small child • His childhood dream: “From a very early age, perhaps the age of five or six, I knew that when I grew up I should be a writer.” • His pen name: George “sounds solidly English” and Orwell is the name of “a river in Suffolk, England”

  3. Orwell’s Education • Attended expensive preparatory schools in England • Grew up “lower-upper-middle class” • “Felt inferior to upper class boys at school”

  4. Life After School • Served in Burma with the Indian Imperial Police • Quit because he hated the prejudice • “I hate violence and don’t believe in politics; the only major remedy remaining is education.” • “I could not go on any longer serving an imperialism which I had come to regard as . . .a racket.”

  5. Chose to live in poverty Worked as a dishwasher Wrote Down and Out in Paris and London Exposed harsh working conditions of the poor Investigated England’s coal-mining industry Wrote The Road to Wigan Pier Exposed terrible conditions of the miners Career Path

  6. Effects of These Jobs • Grew to hate a “class system” • Became a socialist • Socialism • All goods in a country are shared with others • No one has more than others "The thing that attracts ordinary men to Socialism…is the idea of equality; to the vast majority of people Socialism means a classless society, or it means nothing at all."

  7. Writing wasn’t paying the bills Other jobs: 1. Teacher 2. Grocer 3. Bookshop assistant 4. BBC writer Fought in Spanish Civil War against communists Shot in the throat in battle Wrote about this war Homage to Catalonia To Make Ends Meet

  8. Married in 1936 Diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1938 Adopted son in 1944 Wife died in 1946 Remarried in 1950 (three months before his own death) Personal Life

  9. Most Famous Works • Animal Farm • Published in 1945 • Wrote it “to expose [Joseph] Stalin’s perversion of socialism” • Fusion of “political and artistic purpose” • Immediate commercial ($) success • Quickly translated into many languages

  10. Most Famous Works • 1984 • Published in 1949 • His final novel • Grim vision of future society • “Big Brother” is watching/controlling all • Considered his master-piece

  11. Final Thoughts • Suffered a tubercular hemorrhage (lung bleed) • Died in 1950 at age of 46 • “I felt that I had got to escape not merely from imperialism but from every form of man’s dominion over man. I wanted to submerge myself, to get right down among the oppressed, to be one of them and on their side against their tyrants.” • “Writing a book is a long, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist or understand.”

  12. Works Cited Cover of Novel Animal Farm. 12 Oct. 2006 <http://217.207.178.138/cgibin/bridgemanImage.cgi/ 400wm.HBC.2771420.7055475>. Cover of Novel 1984. 12 Oct. 2006 <http://pictures.abebooks.com/IDLERBOOKS/md/md229616146.jpg>. Ershler, Norman. The Orwell Reader. 1995. Nov. 2005 <http://www.theorwell reader.com>. George Orwell’s BBC Union Card. 12 Oct. 2006 <http://www.netcharles.com/ 1-george-orwell.jpg>. George Orwell’s Gravesite. 12 Oct. 2006 <http://www.zardoz.net/orwell/110-Headstone.eighth.jpg>. George Orwell’s Older Face. 12 Oct. 2006 <http://www.george-orwell.org/ ~sub/images/george-orwell-5.jpg>. George Orwell’s Younger Face. 12 Oct. 2006 <http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/o/orwell/george/orwell.jpg>. Sammis, Kathy. Perma-Guides to Literature. Jacksonville, Illinios: Perma-Bound Books, 1992. Stewart, Garrett. "Orwell, George." World Book Online Reference Center. 2007. Mountain Pointe High School, Phoenix, AZ.  18 Oct. 2007 <http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar406780>.

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