Biography
A novelist, poet and journalist, George Orwell significantly shaped how we view the 20th century, and his work continues to influence popular culture decades after his death. Born in 1903 in British India, Eric Arthur Blair moved to England with his mother and siblings when he was a year old; his father joined them in 1912. Between 1911 - 1916, he attended boarding school, which he detested, before he and his family moved to Oxford. He attended Eton on a scholarship, where he worked on the college magazine, but, unable to afford university, he instead joined the Imperial Police, and moved to Burma in 1922.
He returned to England in 1926 after contracting dengue fever, and decided not to return. Although he hadn’t enjoyed his time serving abroad, he would later use his experiences in the Burma police for his novel Burmese Days (published in 1935).
After moving to London in 1927, Blair sought out the poorer, working class areas, and did the same in Paris when he moved there the following year. In 1932, having published several successful essays, Blair acquired a literary agent and the following year, Down & Out In Paris & London was published under the pen name George Orwell to critical acclaim.
Exploring social hierarchies, justice, and the plight of the working class, Orwell exposed a side of society that many people didn’t know existed. His later works, including Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, offered an eye-opening, satirical expose of the dangers of totalitarianism and the corrupting nature of power, themes which still sadly find resonance with readers to this day.
