Life Overview

George Orwell was born in 1903 in Bengal, India. His real name was Eric Arthur Blair, his mother's name was Ida Amble Limousine and his Father's name was Richard Wellesley Blair. He grew up in England and the early part of Orwell's life was spent in poverty, which he gives an account of in his 1933 book Down and Out in Paris and London (Stade). As an adult, Orwell served as an Imperial Policeman in Burma, India. During this experience, he got a glimpse of the adverse effects of institutionalized force (Stade).
George Orwell considered himself a socialist but did not favor totalitarianism (Stade). This caused the Leftist Party to view him as a traitor (Stade). He openly expressed his displeasure with the rampant political injustices as well as thecommunist style of the Soviet Union (Court). Orwell was labeled the 'wintry conscience of his generation by novelist V.S. Pritchett. Orwell died on January 21, 1950 having lived through a peried in which fascism and communism were on th rise (Court). This period also included the two World Wars as well as the deterioration of the British Empire (Court). The end of his life was right around the beginning of the Cold War (Court). He wrote over 700 works in his life, each with unique ways of expressing his political views (Court).

Works Cited

Stade, George, and Karen Karbiener, eds. "Orwell, George." Encyclopedia of British Writers, 20th Century, vol. 2. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2003. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Tarrant County College Lib., Fort Worth, TX. Web. 17 March 2010. http://www.fofweb.com

Court, Ayesha. "George Orwell." Dookmarks July/Aug. 2004: 14-19. SIRS

Renaissance. Tarrant County College Lib., Forth Worth, TX. Web. 19 March 2010. http://sirs.com