The real name: Eric Arthur Blair Born in Motihari, Bengal in 1903 to British colonial figures Sent to preparatory school in Eastbourne in 1911 where he felt like an outcast

Humiliating punishments and rigid adherence to discipline Such, such were the joys (1953): pressure to conform to the traditional values of society Scolarship and opportunity to go to Eton where he developed his personality

Member of the Indian Imperial Police Burmese days (1934): he recorded his experiences He returns to England in 1927 and feels sympathy for the oppressed by living among the urban poor Down and out in Paris and London (1933): about the institutions for the poor like hostels, prisons, and hospitals Keep the aspidistra flying (1936): studies about English values and life marriage with Eileen O’Shaughnessy in 1936 The road to Wigan Pier (1937): about the miners’ life

Spanish civil war in 1937: he fought in the ranks of the supporters of the left-wing Loyalists against Fascism Homage to Catalonia and Inside the Whale: he stresses the similarity of communists and Fascists He joined the BBC in 1941 broadcasting cultural and political programmes to India He died of tubercolosis in 1950

His experiences contributed to his ability to see his country from the outside and to judge its weakness and strenghts Conflict between his middle-class background and his emotional identification with the working class Desire to reveal real facts and inform the people about political matters Writing has a positive social function

Written in 1948: a possible ghastly dictatorship set in a hypotethical 1984 Oceania: a vast totalitarian system including North America, Australia and South Africa Big brother: a mysterious leader who controls all the popolation through “telescreens”. He is a combination of Stalin and Hitler “Thoughtcrime”and “doublethink”: analogy with Russia and Germany

Sense of loss, feeling that beauty and truth and all emotions and values belong to the past sex is forbidden and it is only a means for reproduction Smith: the commonest English surname; Winston: evokes Churchill’s patriotic appeals for sacrifice during the Second World War Alienation from society and desire for spiritual and moral integrity: he writes a diary

The tone of the book becomes increasingly pessimistic and violent Orwell presents a frightening picture of the future The party has absolute control of the press, communication and propaganda The language and history are controlled in the interests of the state Any form of rebellion against the rules is punished with prison and torture

by Andrea Davì