Life and Works of George Orwell - Essay Example

Introduction The life of Brian Arthur Blair, who was and is popularly known as George Orwell, can only be termed as ordinary. Nothing out of ordinary jumps out when you read what is left of him to read about. He was born of, a normal British imperial family, raised by a mother who cared for him a little too much, enrolled in normal schools and followed basically all the systems that were there to be followed. His life starts changing when he grows up and is posted as an assistant superintendent in Burma. Henceforth, he leads an ordinary life of “interest” until he met his untimely death in the mid-20th century. Life and Works of George Orwell George was born Brian Arthur Blair, on June 25 1903, in Bengal India, a protectorate of the British government, to a British official Richard Blair and to a governess, Ida. His mother moved back to Britain to raise her two children, as it would have been norm of any British woman. His formative years were spent with his mother and sister and his love for the English language saw her mother enroll him into St. Cyprian. This move in his life can be attributed to so many other things in his life and the reason he did things the way he did them. It molded his perspective on authority and decision-making. When he was fourteen, he was admitted into Eton a prestigious school where he excelled and acquired the bad habit of smoking, an indulgence that would later cost him his life. When time came for him to go to university, which he had qualified, he opted to serve in the British imperial police, a move perceived as his way to “feel” what authority entailed. He also served as police officer in Burma in a powerful position for such a young and inexperienced officer. He did his duty with grace at first but the inhumane condition and treatment of the locals by the police started to erode his pride and his sense of duty (Hitchens, 143). Four years into the service, Arthur resigned and returned to Britain to pursue his newly discovered passion of writing; a move that did not auger well with his dad. The late 20s found him in a midlife crisis of trying to worm himself into a position of comfort in his life. He did menial jobs here and there while trying to reconnect with his humanity, through interacting with trumps by pretending to be one. He then went to Paris in 1929, and his experiences there inspired his first book, Down And Out in Paris and London. When producing this book, he took the literal name of George Orwell; a name that would survive his true identity. The successes of his first book saw him delve into his second, Burmese Days with more eagerness and articulation. Choosing to approach the book from a fiction approach, he elaborated his Burma experiences in his own words. Its critical approach saw the producer opt it published in New York and only got into Britain a year later, 1935. Its details did not go well with the British colonial administration on the way he had literally drawn them. His literally prowess was being shaped in the early 30s and the publication of his book, The Clergyman Daughter, was a turning point. Although not a success, he wrote his forth book, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, one that he tried to criticize and re-evaluate himself in the character of Gordon. It was a turning point in his writing career and the discovery of his writing “voice”. In 1935, his producer commissioned him to write about homelessness and unemployment in the industrial part of Wigan. It inspired his book, The Road to Wigan Pier, and his first real encounter with the secret in-workings of the government intelligence service. His experiences awoke a cause to socialism and inspired his next move, to put down his pen and paper and join the Spain anti-fascist group, P.O.U.M, to fight for their cause. In 1936, he got married to Eileen O’Shaughnessy, a thirty-year-old university graduate in Educational Psychology at University College, London. His experiences as a police officer served him well as military personnel, and stood out as a natural leader. Together with his wife Eileen, they served the cause of the socialist group well, before being shot directly on his throat by a sniper shot. He was evacuated to a nearby hospital and taken back to Barcelona where with Eileen aid he recovered. Problems within Spain fighting groups and Franco, saw him became a fugitive and forced together with Eileen, to run away back to London. On his return to Britain, with bad health and a persisting lung problem, George settled down to write down, Homage to Catolina (Colls 274). A book he meant to articulate the cause of the anti-fascist group and enlighten the public, firsthand, on the brutality and inhumane conditions experienced in Spain. The book came out a little too late after Franco had won and the world moved on. It did badly. In 1938, his doctor advised him to recuperate and rest in a dry place and suggested Morocco. He and his wife travelled to Morocco Marrakech, a town into the interior and rented a villa where he started writing his next book, Coming Up For Air. A book that told of his struggle to cope with his past and discern his future, It brought out his true self and confidence to stand up for what he believed was right. He returned home early 1939, and published the book, which did surprisingly well. The start of the Second World War saw him rejected into military service due to bad health and his entry into public life. He started writing articles for, Horizon, a monthly magazine, where he wrote his best poems and articles. With the Germany advancing he was recruited he was enlisted to the home guards, a last front in case of evasion. The next part of his years, he wrote articles and essays that were contained in Inside the Whale and Lion and The Unicorn. He worked at the BBC as an anti-German propaganda machine in the years 1941-43, which inspired his literally style in the next books, Nineteen-Eighty Four and animal farm. He resigned BBC, and started writing columns for tribune and the observer newspapers. He moved away at the end of 1943 into a farm and started minor farming as well as writing his famous book, Animal Farm. Eileen loved the book and helped him in his writing. In 1945, George and Eileen adopted a baby, but a few months later while undergoing an operation, Eileen suffered a massive heart attack and died (Bowler, 339). He undertook the sole responsibility of bringing up his son and to get himself busy, he wrote a lot of articles for the Horizon. In 1946, he moved to a Scottish island to finish his book, Animal Farm. He tried looking for a companion in vain and his involvement with an IRD (Information research department) agent, Celia Kirwan, saw him release the infamous list of spy suspects. Writing Nineteen Eighty-Four was a race against time as his health was deteriorating fast and he felt did not have much time left inside him. He could barely sit up but he was determined to finish that book before he died. He submitted himself to the latest medical drugs to ensure survival but his was a courageous battle. He finished the book and gave the manuscript to his publisher before he made a deathbed marriage to Sonia Mary Blair, who was left in charge of his son, who inherited him and the loyalties of his books Conclusion Arthur Brian Blair died George Orwell. He did not live to see his artistic skill appreciated and enjoy his pains. He had a literally eye for the future, a trait that put him far ahead the rest of the pack. He was buried at All Saints’ Church, Sutton Courtenay village, Oxfordshire. His works resonated then and still resonate with astounding frequency today, an evidence of his artistic mastery. Works Cited Bowker, George. George Orwell. New York: Little Brown Book Group, 2004. Print Hitchens, Christopher. Why Orwell Matters. New York: Basic Books, 2003. Print Colls, Roberts. An English Rebel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. Print Read More