George Orwell

Orwell's biography is as fascinating as his works. Although famous under his pen name George Orwell, the writer was in fact born Eric Arthur Blair on 25 June 1903 in India. The pen name provided some anonymity not to embarrass his relatives with his first publication, Down and Out in Paris and London (1933), which covered his time living in poverty.

Orwell claims he also didn't like the name 'Eric' as it reminded him of a 'prig' (a person who self-righteously believes they are better than others).¹

George Orwell's father held a small role in the Indian civil service as a British official, and his French mother was the daughter of a failed merchant. Orwell described themselves as part of the 'landless gentry': those who had the snobbish pretensions of being wealthy without wealth.

In 1911, Orwell went to a preparatory boarding school in England, where he outshone other students with his intelligence. He then won scholarships to Wellington and Eton, England's top schools, studying under Aldous Huxley at Eton.

In 1922, Orwell followed in his father's footsteps and went to Burma to work in the Indian Imperial Police. While working there, he experienced the discrimination the Burmese people faced due to British rule. He felt ashamed of his role and eventually resigned in 1928. These experiences later shaped his first novel Burmese Days (1934), as well as his autobiographical essays 'A Hanging' (1931) and 'Shooting an Elephant' (1936).

His shame and guilt from Burma lead to his decision to experience what it was like to be on the side of the discriminated people. Down and Out in Paris and London reflected his experiences of living in the slums of Paris and East London.

Set in the 1920s and a fictional district based on where Orwell served in Burma, John Flory is a white European man living and working in Southeast Asia, which was under British colonial rule at the time.

Imperial life is embodied in the European Club, a club full of privileged white men who refuse the entrance of non-white men. When Flory's only friend, Dr Veraswami, an Indian doctor, tries to gain election to the club, the magistrate U Ko Phin becomes jealous and tries to ruin Dr Veraswami's reputation. In the meantime, Flory's imperialist racism is reflected in the love triangle between Ma Hla May, his Burmese mistress, and the English girl Elizabeth Lackersteen, who Flory wants to marry.

Orwell's most structurally experimental text is A Clergyman's Daughter, with parts written in dramatic form. Although not as successful as other works (Orwell initially didn't want it to be republished after his death), his second novel A Clergyman's Daughter shows Orwell learning his craft.

The text follows the protagonist, Dorothy Hare, the daughter of a clergyman who leads a tedious life as she stays home to take care of the needs of her family. One day, she suddenly develops amnesia, and her entire life transforms. As she wanders through the street with no recollection of the past and with hardly any money, she starts to piece her past together again.

However, this isn't simple. Her journey back to her memory is filled with rumours, romantic scandals, and episodes such as working at a school and spending a night in a police cell. Much of these events can be traced back to Orwell's own experiences in East London.

Dorothy loses her memory through not only amnesia but also her social status. Coming from a middle-class family, Dorothy is suddenly forced to survive with very little money. From hop-picking with vagrants to living rough on Trafalgar Square, Dorothy must experience first-hand what it means to exist in a capitalist society without any money. By the end of the text, the clergyman's daughter renounces her faith in God – perhaps because she has learnt that a capitalist society worships something entirely different indeed.

Fig. 3 - Farm animals are used as an allegory for Orwell to interrogate communism and real-life Russian political figures.

One of Orwell's most famous works, the dystopian science fiction novel 1984, explores the oppression of individual freedom and rights by an all-powerful state. Having experienced Europe in the 1940s, Orwell drew on the historical examples of oppressive states in Europe to create his searing critique of totalitarian regimes and abuses of power and language.

Set in the future of 1984, Great Britain is a thing of the past and the country is now called Oceania. A totalitarian system led by the 'Big Brother', the ruler of The Party governs the people of Oceania. Uniqueness, individuality, and autonomy are non-existent, and citizens are kept in check by a brutal police force.

Winston Smith is a low-ranking member of the party working for the 'Ministry of Truth', who rewrite history according to The Party's desires. Winston falls in love with Julia, who then becomes part of a resistance group that hopes to bring down The Party through the power of ordinary people.

In the end, the totalitarian system triumphs when Winston not only betrays his lover for the sake of the state but loses his freedom of thought.

George Orwell's 1984 was banned in China, Russia, and even the USA due to its explicit political and social themes. In 1981, it was even argued in Jackson County, Florida, that it was supporting communism.

Orwell's socialist leanings made him so critical of Stalin's communism, which claimed to be on the side of the workers yet was instead oppressing the people in a totalitarian state. In the political fable Animal Farm, Orwell presents his view on the Russian Revolution and how 'socialist' notions were a ploy to bring the Russian people under total control.

Many of Orwell's texts focus on how language is abused and censored to suit political ideologies.

In Homage to Catalonia Orwell criticises how the communist party oppresses their political opponents, which also evident in Animal Farm through the gradual changing of the commandments or the silenced rumours of the pigs sleeping in beds and acting like humans.

In 1984, Orwell greatly attacks state propaganda and brainwashing techniques, epitomising the government's apparent truth that '2 + 2 = 5'.

• Orwell analytically criticises how totalitarian governments abuse and censor language to oppress the people and freedom of thought.
• Orwell coined terms such as 'Newspeak' to reflect how censorship has created a new language designed by The Party, such as where a forced labour camp suddenly becomes a 'joy camp'.
• Many of these terms are now frequently used beyond 1984 such as 'doublethink' (when one can think two conflicting things at once) and 'thoughtcrime' (having a thought that the ruling party does not allow).

Orwell recognises that totalitarian governments can exploit the growing advances in technology, as it helps leaders constantly monitor their citizens. In 1984, through dystopian science fiction elements such as 'telescreens' (TV screens that also act as cameras watching the people) and the 'Thought Police', the Party can have total physical and mental control of their citizens.

As a result, rulers would be able to control subjects internally through their minds (through sophisticated brainwashing techniques and fear of the police state) and outwardly (by watching them at all times through technology).