Nineteen Eighty-Four: Context

Orwell's Childhood and Education

His real name was Eric Blair
He was born in India in 1903
He was educated at prestigious English boarding schools as a scholarship student
He described his family as ''lower-upper-middle class''
He felt increasingly isolated throughout his childhood, and felt as though he did not 'belong'
He disliked the schools he attended, and felt oppressed by the dictatorial control they exercised over the lives of the students.
After graduating from Eaton, Orwell decided not to attend college.

1 of 8

After graduating from Eton, Orwell worked as a British Imperial Policeman in Burma.
He detested his duties in Burma, where he was obligated to enforce strict rules under a political regime that he hated.
Orwell had suffered from poor health throughout his life, but eventually he was forced to return to England on convelascent leave.
Upon returning to England, Orwell quit the Imperial Police Force and devoted his time to becoming a writer.
Orwell's early work was greatly inspired by Jack London's novel, 'The People of the Abyss', which documented his experiences in the London slums.
Orwell was so affected by London's novel that he decided to disguise himself and live among some of the poorest members of London society.
After returning from his adventures in London, Orwell wrote 'Down and out in Paris and London'.
Orwell then went to live among destitute coal miners in the north of England.

2 of 8

Orwell abandoned his capitalist views in favour of democratic socialism.
In 1936, Orwell travelled to Spain to report the horrific atrocities committed by facist political regimes in the Spanish Civil war.
In Germany and the Soviet Union, Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin began to rise to power, fuelling Orwell's hatred of totalitarianism and political authority.
Two of Orwell's most politically charged novels are Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).
Nineteen Eighty-Four is considered one of Orwell's greatest masterpieces and warns of the dangers of a totalitarian society.
Orwell was also inspired by rapid advancements in technology (the television), and nuclear weapons.
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopian society (an imagined universe of suffering and control), and is considered a warning to it's readers about societal degradation.

3 of 8

1949 marked the dawn of the nuclear age and start of rapid technological advancement.
Many saw Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' as a frightening new reality.
However, democracy ultimately won during the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall in the early 90's and collapse of the Soviet Union further disproved that Orwell's prophetic novel was not an immediate threat.
However the abusive nature of totalitarian governments and the psychology of power still makes 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' relvent to today's society.
The government's manipulation of history and language as a means of control still resonates with today's audience.
Orwell's 1984 was published in 1948, just a few years after the end of WW2, which was still within living memory for Orwell's audience.

4 of 8

One of England's allies during WW2 was the despotic leader Joseph Stalin, who was known for ruling with an 'iron fist'.
Stalin's 'midnight purges' are very similar to how the citizens of Oceania are systematically 'vapourised' for disobeying the regime.
A similar regime had taken place in Germany under Adolph Hitler, with six million Jews, plus nine million slavs, gypsies, political dissents, homosexuals and mentally challenged people all being put to death under his regime.
Mao Tse-tung was fighting for communism in china around this time, and defeated the Chinese nationalist forces led by Chiang Kai-Shek in 1949.
After his victory, Mao Tse-tung began his long, oppressive totalitarian regime.
Other dictators such as Francisco Franco of Spain, and Benito Mussolini of Italy also used propeganda ands violence to control citizens through their political regimes around this period.
Orwell's Big Brother can be seen as the ultimate totalitarian leader.

5 of 8

Orwell fought against Franco in the Spanish Civil War in the mid-30's, giving his support to the left-wing socialists.
Orwell was a democratic socialist and believed that the government,and not a private enterprise, should control how goods are produced and distributed.
Orwell was greatly concerned with the lives of the poor and working classes.
Throughout the 20th century, the working classes fought for better lives.
In America, workers fought for labour reforms which would include job security, safety regulation, overtime, hazardous duty pay, vacation and sick days, health insurance, pensions, and disability and child labour laws.
Some US and Bristish workers were turning to socialism and communism to solve their problems and create economic and social stability.
In the late 19th century, Karl Marx of Germany proposed to solve inequality between workers and bosses by encouraging them to revolt and create their own communist regime.

6 of 8

Karl Marx believed that workers should control political and economical systems, own their own farms and factories, and distribute profits evenly amongst themselves.
In America, capitalist mine workers were eventually forced to concede to labour's demands, causing socialists and communists to be marginalized.
This marginalization prevented American workers from revolting against the government.
There were, however, communist revolutions in Russia and China, although these countries later modified their economic systems.
During the Cold War era of the 1950's, America had an extreme response to communism.
Senator Joe McCarthy causded the House of Representatives Committee to aggressively attack public figures suspected of being communists - particularly Hollywood figures such as writers and filmmakers.

7 of 8

President Truman and public opinion eventually turned against McCarthy, putting an end to the communist 'witch-hunt'.
The paranoia felt in the McCarthy era is reflected in 1984, as people were pressured to betray their family and friends for fear of being blackmailed or punished themselves.
Communism and Democratic Socialism still have a limited following in the US and Britain today.
As well as being concerned by politics, a new invention - the televsion - also sparked Orwell's imagination.
The potential use of the television as a communication tool did not escape Orwell, and heavily influenced the use of the telescreen in 1984.
The first BBC broadcast took place in 1937, and was later unveiled to the American public at the New York World Fair in 1939.
Today, 98% of Americanh households own at least one television.

8 of 8