Download George Orwell background Studycom

8/13/2021
Lesson Printout - Study.com
Student:
Transcript: George Orwell: Biography, Books & Facts
https://study.com/academy/lesson/george-orwell-biography-books-facts.html
Do you know anyone who would volunteer to fight in a war? Or live in a slum and work as a dishwasher when he did
not have to? George Orwell did both. Read on to learn how and why he chose these experiences.
Is that Your Real Name?
You might not think to ask a person named George Orwell if that is his real name. There doesn't seem to
be anything different about it, but it is, in fact, a pseudonym (sue-do-nem, or false name)
George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair. He chose to write under the name George Orwell because he
admired George, the patron saint of England and because the River Orwell in England was one of his
favorites.
George Orwell
Early Life
George Orwell was born on June 25, 1903, in Bengal, India. His father, Richard, worked for the Civil
Service. He had two sisters, Marjorie and Avril. His mother, whose name was Ida, moved him from India
to England when he was a year old. He did not see his father until three years later. His father visited the
family for a short while and then left again five years later.
https://study.com/academy/print/lesson/george-orwell-biography-books-facts.html
1/3
8/13/2021
Lesson Printout - Study.com
Education
George, or rather Eric, was a very smart boy. He began his education at a small parish school and later
received a scholarship to attend one of the best schools in the area, St Cyprian's School, in Sussex. The
scholarship didn't cover all of his tuition. His parents still had to pay for half of the fees.
After receiving another scholarship for college, he moved on to study at Eton. He made friends well and
was a King's Scholar from 1917 to 1921.
From the Police Force to Poverty
After college, Orwell decided to become a police officer. He was a part of the Indian Imperial Police in
Burma.
In 1927, he made a big change in his life when he quit the police force and began to live and work
among the outcasts of society in London and France. Orwell worked as a dishwasher in hotels and
restaurants. He chose to experience life this way because he wanted to connect with the people. He did
not like how different people were treated simply because of their race or economic status.
He later wrote about many of his experiences living in the slums and working among society's outcasts.
Serving in the Spanish Civil War
There are very few people who would volunteer to fight in a war. Many think about their families and the
danger that could come from getting involved. George Orwell thought about working to help a cause he
believed in. He volunteered and fought for the Republicans against Franco's Nationalist faction in the
Spanish Civil War. He was later shot during a battle in 1937.
Love and Marriage
Orwell married a woman named Eileen O'Shaughnessy. George and Eileen adopted a son and named
him Richard Horatio Blair. In 1945, Eileen died while she was having an operation.
Would you remarry if your husband or wife died? George Orwell took some time to grieve over Eileen,
but he did decide to remarry. In 1949, Sonia Brownell became his second wife a few short weeks before
his death.
The Writings of George Orwell
Although George Orwell did not live very long (he died before the age of 50), he used his time to create
enduring works. His first book, Down and Out in Paris and London, gave a detailed account of his
experiences living in the slums and working among the poor. It was published in 1933, and just a year
later he published the novel, Burmese Days. It focused on a main character who is fed up with the
oppression of society.
https://study.com/academy/print/lesson/george-orwell-biography-books-facts.html
2/3
8/13/2021
Lesson Printout - Study.com
It seems to be a running theme of an unhappy main character in Orwell's novels. A Clergyman's
Daughter (1935) is about an unhappy middle-aged woman who has a short-lived bit of freedom from her
regular life. Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936) tells the story of a man who hates materialism but is
forced to marry a wealthy woman.
What George Orwell is Known For
After volunteering in the war, George began writing book reviews for a weekly paper called the New
English Weekly. He did this for three years. However, he continued to write and produced one of his
best-known works in 1945: Animal Farm. This political fable is centered around Stalin's betrayal of the
Russian Revolution.
Four years later, Orwell published another gem called 1984. In this novel, he creates an interesting world
outside of a perfect world with Big Brother watching.
He continued to write until tuberculosis claimed his life in 1950.
Lesson Summary
George Orwell, born Eric Arthur Blair, was an author from Bengal, India, who was born in 1903 and died
in 1950. For a brief period, he lived among the poor in the slums of London and Paris, and his first book
was called, Down and Out in Paris and London. He volunteered and fought for the Republicans against
Franco's Nationalist in the Spanish Civil War. He is most known for his novels, Animal Farm and 1984.
https://study.com/academy/print/lesson/george-orwell-biography-books-facts.html
3/3