George Orwell: Sci-Fi or Seer?

One of the most influential British authors of the 20^th Century has to be Eric Arthur Blair -better known by his penname “George Orwell”. Blair worked as both a journalist and novelist, and his whole writing career is characterised by one thing, his concern for social justice and the plight of the working class. Blair’s work is generally well known and celebrated but the most famous of his novels include Animal Farm, a particular favourite of mine, and Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Born in India in 1903, Blair was educated in Britain before joining the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, where he was stationed from 1922 – 1927. Following this he resigned from the police to concentrate on a writing career. He later drew on his experiences in Burma for his novel Burmese Days (1934) and the essays “A Hanging” (1931) and “Shooting an Elephant” (1936).

Back in Britain Blair began his research into the plight of the working class, regularly visiting areas of extreme poverty; he would dress and behave as a down and out to gain  a true experience of the world that so many inhabited. He also spent some time in Paris where he undertook menial jobs, to gain more experience of the conditions many were forced to live in and of the meagre wages they received. Evidence of this can be seen in his work Down and Out in Paris and London (1933).

Continuing with his writing, Blair also worked as a school teacher and as an assistant in a book store. Then in 1936 he was commissioned to write about the poverty in an economically depressed Northern England. Blair set out on foot and public transport and spent time investigating social conditions. He visited many homes to see how people lived and took detailed notes of housing conditions and wages. The result of this research was The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), a true reflection of the plight of many ordinary, working class people in the inter war years. Late in 1936 Blair travelled to Spain to fight in the civil war. He was true to his beliefs and wanted to fight against fascism, defending democracy, but the political situation there made it impossible for him to stay and he had returned to England by July 1937. His experiences in Spain gave rise to Homage to Catalonia (1938).

During the 2^nd World war, Blair worked for the BBC, and in 1943 became editor of The Tribune a weekly left wing magazine. At this time he was a prolific writer publishing articles, reviews, essays and books!

However, it is after the War, that the most famous of his novels were completed. Animal Farm (1945) tells the story of animals taking over the farm where they are living after driving the drunken, irresponsible farmer out. They adopt seven commandments, the most important being “all animals are equal”, and they are all happy. Gradually, over time, the pigs take over and replace all commandments with the slogan “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”. One tyrant has been replaced by another. According to Blair the book reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and beyond. It is a very clever, well written read, which was well received and ensured Blair financial security.

Later, in 1949, Blair was to publish his last novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. This tells the story of an imaginary totalitarian country which is characterised by omnipresent government control and public mind control. The book made a deep impact and many ideas and phrases from it have now entered popular use. These include “Big Brother is watching you”, “newspeak”, “doublethink” and “thoughtcrime”, to name but a few. Blair was truly before his time!

Following a long period of illness Blair passed away in 1950, at only 46 years old.   

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