Orwell & controversy

Résumé du document

I am going to talk about one of the best-known authors of the 20th century, George Orwell. '1984' and 'Animal Farm' are considered as major pieces of anti-totalitarianism literacy, and above all as masterpieces in the British literature. It's quite interesting to look into Orwell's life, as it represents a great paradox. He seemed to be a perfect product of the British imperialist system, he got involved in different political trends, sometimes strongly opposed to the British system.

Extraits

[...] Then he radically changed sides and turned to patriotism. He got enrolled in the Home Guard to defend England against Nazism. In his mind, a social revolution had to be provoked in Great Britain; otherwise the victory again Hitlerian Germany won't be a real victory. He became such a patriot that it was to him unacceptable to maintain any relations with either USSR or Germany. III) Totalitarianism in Orwell's perception After the war, he published his two masterpieces (“Animal Farm” was issued in 1945 and in 1949), and wrote articles about politics and literacy, and dedicated his free time to defend fundamental freedoms and rights in England. [...]

[...] After 1922, Orwell the author was born, as well as an engaged atypical man. II) Wind of change and conversion In fact the five years he spent in Burma were quite a trigger for him, and then he got strongly engaged in several causes. First, his Burmese experience compelled him to publish his first book, entitled “Burmese days”. This book is an acid critic of imperialism, denouncing the violence of British rules toward the population. When he gave up, in 1927, he decided to go back to London and to devote himself to writing. [...]

[...] He stayed in London shallows a whole year, before to move to Paris. There he lived from articles and odd jobs, before to go back to London shallows, where he struggles against a harsh everyday life with tramps and hobos. He dealt with this period in another book, published in 1933, “Down and out in Paris and London”. That was the beginning of the building of a special man, with several rebounding during his life, as the two pneumonias he caught between 1927 and 1934. [...]

[...] Orwell: “Made in Britannia”? Let's begin by portraying George Orwell. I talked about him as a product of British imperialism for several reasons. First of all he was born in India in 1903, in the British Raj jewel of the Crown”, and his father was civil servant in the Indies administration. Due to this, he was taught the imperialist values, and seemed to be promised to a brilliant future, following up the traditional familial and occidental system. His family was very linked to the imperialist system: his grandfather traded different national products with UK in Burma, while his great-grandfather owned slaves in Jamaica. [...]

[...] The scenery he depicts is very dark, hopeless, as the last man finally turns to the cult of Big Brother. In this book, the analysis he does about language use is still considered as about a major linguist analysis. Indeed, “newspeak” may be considered as a brilliant metaphor to design the Nazi language Arendt denounced in Eichmann in Jerusalem; purely artificial, it's a way to lobotomize people, in order to reinforce dictator's power. Animal Farm is also a strong critic against communism. [...]