George Orwell

Nancy Finney Martha Addante ENGL 3070 September 15th 2006 George Orwell: the Man and the Author In order to truly comprehend a book and its underlying meanings, it is integral to research and learn about the author. The book Nineteen Eighty-Four was written by George Orwell and was first published in 1949. George Orwell was born in Bengal, India, in 1903, and died in London in 1949. Orwell led an interesting and intriguing life that was projected into Nineteen Eighty-Four, and his life is essential to the understanding of the book. George Orwell was the pen name for Eric Blair. Seen with any kind of objectivity, Orwell’s career was a model of hard work and success. Among Orwell’s achievements: an Eton scholarship, first novel published before the age of thirty, and authoring of two novels (Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm) that literally changed the way people think. George Orwell grew up without a close physical connection to his father due to the fact that his father was employed in India while Orwell was schooled in England, and an added emotional distance was created in that his father did not approve of Orwell’s choice to be an author. This relationship invariably affected Orwell as a human being and also as a writer. Orwell had been strongly discouraged by his family, and recalled that: “I had to struggle desperately at the beginning, and if I had listened to what people said to me I would never have been a writer.” (Meyers 6) It only makes sense, then, that the society in Nineteen Eighty-Four did not allow one to write for personal fulfillment. One of the dominant themes in Nineteen Eighty-Four is oppression. Throughout the novel, Winston Smith (the main character) felt oppressed by “Big Brother”. Whether