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GEORGE ORWELL (1903-1950) - Coggle Diagram
GEORGE ORWELL (1903-1950)
LIFE
Born Eric Blair in India, son of a minor colonial official
educated at St Cyprian's, a preparatory school in England, and at Eton
the pressure of the English public schools, the competition and the discipline inspired his independent personality
indifference to accepted values
atheism and socialism
from 1922 to 1927 he served in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma (now Myanmar)
1927 he decided to break away from British imperialism in India
'to escape from[...] every form of man's dominion over man'
(
The Road to Wigan Pier
)
he moved to London and decided to experience poverty to learn how institutions for the poors worked, as a social experiment
he worked as a dishwasher in a hotel in Paris, then came back to England where he began publishing his works with the pseudonym of George Orwell
George: Englishness
Orwell: the name of a river he was fond of
1936 he married Eileen O' Shaughnessy and in the same year they went to Spain where he reported on the Spanish Civil War
he joined the militia of POUM (Workers' Party of Marxist Unification), fighting in the trenches of the Aragon front
Back in England, he adopted an infant child and called him Richard
1945 Eileen died during an operation
1941 he joined the BBC and broadcasted programmes to India
1943 he became the literary editor of
The Tribune
, a socialist weekly, and resigned from BBC
Animal Farm
and
Nineteen Eighty-Four
made him internationally known
he died of tuberculosis in 1950
WORKS
1933
Down and out in Paris and London
described his experience among the poors
1934
Burmese days
his experience in the colonial service
1937
The Road to Wigan Pier
investigation of the conditions of miners, factory workers and unemployed in the industrial North, where he stayed for two months, commissioned by a left-wing publisher
1938
Homage to Catalonia
recalls his experience during the Spanish Civil War
conversion to socialism and the ideals of brotherhood and equality
1945
Animal Farm
1949
Nineteen Eighty-Four
LITERATURE
he had a deep understanding of the English character
but also the ability to see his country from the outside
marked by the unresolved conflict between his middle-class background and his emotional identification with the middle class
according to him, the role of the writer:
in the Twenties was to express a
tragic, post-war pessimism
writers had concerned with language and form
in the Thirties served
a useful social function
desire to inform, reveal facts and draw conclusions
the writer should be
independent
THEMES:
social themes
using a realistic and factual language
tolerance, justice
the increasing artificiality of urban civilisation
strong disapproval of totalitarianism
Nineteen Eighty-Four
PLOT
The future world is divided into 3 blocks: Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. Oceania is ruled by 'The Party' led by the 'Big Brother', and is continuously at war with the other 2 states.
In order to control people's lives, the Party is implementing
Newspeak
, an invented language whose lexis is so limited that people can't express their own ideas and threatening them though the
Thought Police
.
Free thought, sex and any expression of individuality are forbidden, but the protagonist,
Winston Smith
, writes his memories and thoughts in a diary addressed to the future generations.
No privacy:
telescreens
watch everything
2 Minutes hate
: daily, public period during which people must watch a film depicting the enemies of the state, specifically Emmanuel Goldstein and his followers, openly and loudly to express hatred for them in order to allow the citizens to vent their existential anguish and personal hatreds towards politically expedient enemies
The party has
absolute control of the press, communication and propaganda
He works at the 'Ministry of Truth', where he notices an attractive girl, but he is afraid she might be an informant. Julia proves to have a rebellious attitude too and they begin a secret affair.
One day
O'Brien
, a member of the powerful 'Inner Party' tells them he too hates the Party and works against it as a member of the 'Brotherhood' led by Emmanuel Goldstein.
O'Brien
gives Winston a copy of Goldstein's book, the manifesto of the Brotherhood. While he is reading the book with Julia, some soldiers break in and arrest them.
At the 'Ministry of Love', Winston finds out that O'Brien is a Party spy. He tortures and brainwashes Winston for months but he resists. At last, he is sent to
Room 101
, where he is forced to confront his worst fear: rats on his head.
Finally, Winston's will is broken and he is released. When he meets Julia, he doesn't love her anymore because he has completely given up his identity to love Big Brother.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
a world in perpetual war reminiscent of WWII
Orwell describes 3 books inspired by the
Tehran Conference of 1943
, where Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin coordinated their military strategy against Germany and Japan
reflection of the tyrannies in Spain, Germany and the Soviet Union
Big Brother: both Stalin and Hitler
SETTING
Oceania
the Americas, the Atlantic Islands, Australia, South Africa and
Airstrip One
(previously England)
divided into 3 segments:
the Outer Party (educated workers)
the Proles (the working class)
the Inner Party (the ruling class)
a terrifying London in 1984
BEGINNING:
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen
CHARACTERS
WINSTON SMITH
Winston: evocation of Churchill's patriotic appeals for
blood, toil, tears and sweat
Smith: the commonest English surname
the last man to believe in human values in a Totalitarian age
concerned for the manipulation of history by the Party
JULIA
naive and pessimistic
O'BRIEN
mysterious, little background information
THEMES
Memory and mutual trust
the only way to preserve IDENTITY
Decency
mutual trust, tolerance, empathy
A
DYSTOPIAN
NOVEL
It shows a possible future society and satirises existing conditions of society
different from
UTOPIA
: the ideal of a perfect community embodying the writer's ideals
reveals the author's sympathy with the people persecuted and murdered in totalitarianisms
literary device and genre used by writers to present a vision of the future that challenges readers to reflect on the current social and political environments in which they live
Animal Farm
HISTORICAL SETTING
a reaction against and
Stalin's purge trials (death of 3 million people)
the non-agression pact with Hitler that enabled Germany to take over Poland and Czechoslovakia
anti-utopian animal fable inspired by Swift's
Gulliver's Travels
, animated cartoons, Aesop and La Fontaine
a satire on
dictatorship
in general (
Napoleon
)
PLOT
A group of oppressed animals capable of speech and reason and inspired by an old boar overcome their cruel master and set up a revolutionary government. The pigs supervise the entreprise under the leadership of Napoleon, a power-hungry pig.
At first they are guided by Seven Commandments based on equality, which are gradually altered by the pigs to become increasingly dictatorial and to arrogate to themselves the privileges previously exercised by humans.
At the end, only one commandment remains:
'all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others'
CHARACTERS
Old Major
a mixture of Marx and Lenin. His doctrine becomes the basis of the 7 Commandments
Farmer Jones
Czar Nicholas II. A drunk farmer that doesn't care about his animals and farm
Snowball
Trotsky. His bravery is an example to the other animals
Napoleon
Stalin. He uses terror to maintain his power
Boxer
the loyal, hard-working man (derived from the Boxer rebellion linked to the rise of Communism in China)
the dogs
a metaphor of the terror state created by Stalin in Russia
THEMES
humour and sarcasm
initial idealism turning into exploitation
gradual loss of freedom
tyranny as evil