“Writing a
book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful
illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by
some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.”
George Orwell
(1903 - 1950)Curious facts about:
Born as Eric
Arthur Blair he changed his name (allegedly because he was concerned for his
parent's reputation) to George Orwell. "George" was taken from the
King and "Orwell" from the river of that name. Another reason
for “Orwell” was because he wanted a name that started with a letter in the
middle of the alphabet. Why? Because, as he stated in a letter to bookseller
Louis Simmonds, it allowed for his books to be placed in the middle shelf in
bookstores. Not too high, where customers can’t see and not too low where he
would be near the customer’s feet.
"Animal
Farm" is an allegorical satire of the Russian Revolution of October 1917
and, above all, of how things went badly wrong under Stalin in the Soviet
Union. The
Party was all powerful and literally watched over Winston Smith's (and
everyone's) every move and even his thoughts. He tries to rebel and escape, but
the Party drag him back and re-indoctrinate him into the system. Written over
50 years ago the more astute social observer may see some evidence today of
where Orwell thought we were heading.
Orwell WAS an atheist. He identified as one. But he also still hung
onto the traditions of the Church of England, and many of his morals were
Christian-based. He was also quite superstitious. While in a Wallington church
yard, he could have sworn he saw a ghost. He had the belief that people could do secret black
magic on a person’s name—another reason he chose a pen name. In his early Eton
days, he and a schoolmate created a voodoo doll out of soap of an older kid
they felt bullied them. The kid would end up breaking his leg and, later, dying
of cancer. Orwell felt guilty about this fact for the rest of his life. In Burma,
he got small blue circles tattooed on his knuckles to ward off bad luck.