George Orwell Author of Fiction, Polemical Journalism, Literary Criticism, and Poetry
Dec 30, 2015
George OrwellAuthor of Fiction, Polemical Journalism, Literary Criticism, and
Poetry
The LegendThe Legend Considered the twentieth
century’s best chronicler of English culture
His most famous books, 1984 and Animal Farm, have sold more copies than any two books by any other twentieth-century author
Coined the term “Orwellian”, which describes a concept that obstructs the idea of a free society
Early LifeEarly Life Born Eric Arthur Blair on June 25,
1903 in what is now India
Blair’s pen name was George Orwell
Generations of the Blair Family were very wealthy, but Blair described his family as “lower middle class”
His father was a soldier, and his mother took him, and his two sisters, to England when he was a year old
EducationEducation Began working as a day-boy at the
age of five, for a private school, so that he would eventually qualify for a scholarship
Transferred to St. Cyprian’s School, which he hated, and parodied in his later work
Published poems while in school, which earned him a scholarship to Wellington College and Eton College, although he never earned a degree
PolicingPolicing Became a policeman when college
never proved productive
Placed 7th in intelligence within the academy
Was responsible for more than 200,000 people at one time
Promoted to Assistant District Superintendent
Became ill with Dengue Fever, an insanely contagious rash, and never returned to the force
TeachingTeaching After recovering from being ill, and
traveling the world, living in poverty, he moved in with his parents
Blair took a job teaching at a high school, and then transferred to a local college
Wrote articles of the socialist persuasion to make ends meet
Took up the pen name, George Orwell, to prevent embarrassment to his family
SalesmanSalesman Became ill with pneumonia, and
resigned from his teaching position
Became an afternoon salesman for “Booklover’s Corner”
Job provided room and board
Wrote during the day, and partied at night
Left the life of a salesman, and concentrated on writing his own works, which meant he lived in poverty again
Marriage and Thievery Marriage and Thievery Moved to a cottage his aunt owned,
when he could no longer pay his bills
Turned the cottage, which had no modern-day utilities (running water / indoor plumbing), into a village shop and tourist attraction
Married Eileen O’Shaughnessy in 1936
Became ill after being bitten by a poisonous animal, and had most of his possessions stolen
Animal FarmAnimal Farm Became ill with tuberculosis, and after
recovering from TB, became ill with bronchitis
Even though he suffered from chronic bronchitis, meaning it never went away, he was a lifelong chain smoker. In fact, he rolled his own cigarettes.
Was labeled as unfit for any war efforts
His mother died in 1943, and he began working on a political novel, which would become Animal Farm
Struggled with finding a supportive publisher
19451945 Animal Farm was published in 1945,
and gave Orwell fame
He and his wife adopted a son, naming him Richard Horatio in 1945
His wife went to the hospital for a routine hysterectomy, and died during surgery in 1945
Continued to write political articles, and had to hire help to take care of his newly adopted son
Orwell suffered a tubercular hemorrhage
DeathDeath In 1949, Orwell became seriously ill, and was
hospitalized
Started dating Sonia Brownwell right before being hospitalized, and married her on his deathbed
The couple planned to visit the Swiss Alps, but the trip was interrupted by his death, when a main artery burst in his lungs, killing him at 46 (1950)
Orwell was buried with no mention of his pen name, just his birth name
His last request was that no biography be written about him, and it wasn’t until his second wife’s death, that one was published