GEORGE ORWELL’S

1984

Presented by Samantha Stewart

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in 1903, Bengal, India, Eric Arthur
Blair, later known as George Orwell, was destined to become known as one of the most influential author’s of his time.
George Orwell spent the earliest days of his life in India, where his father was stationed.
One year after his birth, his mother moved him and his older sister, Marjorie, to
Henley-on-Thames, England. At the age of four, he began composing his first poem.
His first success was at the age of 11, when a poem of his was published in the news paper.
In 1911, Orwell attended St. Cyprian's
Boarding School. Orwell had not agreed with the school’s system, as he noticed they would treat the richer students better than the less fortunate. Orwell was never close to any of his peers and instead found comfort in reading novels. Orwell went on to completing school in Eton. In 1922, instead of getting a university education, he was forced to join the India Imperial
Police Force due to poverty.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Orwell later left the police force and began his writing career. In 1933, he published his first major work, Down and Out in Paris and London, which provides an insight to the lives of the poor. The book was published under his pseudo name, George Orwell, as he didn’t want to bring embarrassment upon his family. He later published the novel Burmese Days (1934), In June of
1936,
Orwell married Eileen
O'Shaughnessy.

In December 1936, Orwell joined one of the groups fighting against General
Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War.
Orwell was severely injured, with a gunshot to the throat and arm and was incapable of speaking for several weeks
Four years after, he was reunited with
England. During this time Orwell suffered periods of sickness and was officially diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1938.
Several months were spent at the
Preston Hall Sanatorium trying to recover, but was sentenced to battle the disease for the rest of his life.
Orwell wrote various essays and reviews in order to support himself and his wife. In
1941, Orwell was hired to BBC with a position as a producer. He wrote news commentary and shows for the eastern
British Empire. During World War II, he found himself creating propaganda to advance the country's side. He loathed this part of his job and resigned in 1943.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
During the 1940’s, Orwell published two novels which later became literary staples, Animal Farm and Nineteen
Eighty-Four.
Animal Farm (1945) is an anti-Soviet satire novel set in a farm, featuring two pigs as the main protagonists. One pig was said to represent Josef Stalin and the other, Leon Trotsky. The novel brought Orwell great public attention and financial rewards.
In 1949, Orwell published Nineteen
Eighty-Four (or 1984). By the time this was published, Orwell was in the late stages of tuberculosis. At the age of
47, George Orwell passed away on
January 21, 1950, in a hospital in
London. His time may have been shortlived, but his messages and talent live on with us today. His novels have been appreciated throughout generations.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF 1984
Nineteen Eighty-Four was published
June 8, 1949, by Secker and Warburg and was written by George Orwell in
1948. Nineteen Eighty-four, sometimes abbreviated to 1984, is a dystopian novel set in the super-state Oceania, in a province called Airstrip One (formerly
Great
Britain).
Originally,
Orwell planned to call the book The Last Man in Europe, but his publisher suggested he change it to help with marketing the novel. There is no known reason as to why he chose the current title, some say he just switched the last two digits of the year he wrote it. 1984 deals with issues such as perpetual war, strict government surveillance and public manipulation, dictated by a political system named Ingsoc, in a world that doesn’t allow individualism and independent thinking.
1984 is Orwell’s last novel before his death caused by tuberculosis in 1950, and arguably