george orwell, life and novels, Sintesi del corso di Inglese

Scarica george orwell, life and novels e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! George Orwell Born Eric Blair in India in 1903, George Orwell was the son of a minor colonial official. He could not stand the lack of privacy, the humiliating punishments. At Eton he began to develop an independent-minded personal- ity, indifference to accepted values, and he professed atheism and socialism. In 1927 he went on leave and decided not to return; it was not simply that he wished to break away from British imperialism in India: he wished to 'escape from every form of man's dominion over man. First-hand experiences Back in London, he started a social experiment: wearing second-hand clothes, he spent short periods living in down and outs. In this way he directly experienced poverty. After a period in Paris, where he worked as a dishwasher in a hotel, he decided to begin publishing his works with the pseudonym of George Orwell. Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) was his first non-fiction narrative, in which he described his experiences among the poor; it was followed by Burmese Days (1934), a book based on his experience in the colonial service. In 1936 Orwell was commissioned by a left-wing pub- lisher to investigate conditions among the miners, factory workers in the industrial North. His report, The Road to Wigan Pier, was published in 1937. In December 1936 Orwell went to Catalonia to report on the Spanish civil war and fought in the trenches of the Aragon front. George suffered from bronchitis and pneumonia. When the Second World War broke out, Orwell moved to London and in 1941 he joined the BBC. In 1943 he began writing Animal Farm, which was published in 1945. Orwell's last book, Nineteen Eighty-Four, was his most original novel; it was published in 1949 and soon became a bestseller. Orwell died of tuberculosis in the 1950. Orwell's life and work were marked by the unresolved conflict between his middle-class background and ed- ucation and his emotional identification with the working class. He believed that writing interpreted reality and therefore served a useful social function. Orwell believed that the writer should be independent, that no good writing could come from following a party line. He conveyed a vision of human fraternity and of the misery caused by poverty. He insisted on tolerance, jus- tice and decency in human relationships. Above all he strongly criticised totalitarianism, warning against the violation of liberty and helping his readers to recognise tyranny in all its forms. Infact 'Orwellian' has become a universal term for anything repressive or totalitarian. Nineteen eighty four This novel, written by George Orwell in 1949, can be considered the prime exemple of the dystopian genre and it is arguably one of the most famous books of the XX century. The book describes a future world that is divided into three large areas: Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. Oceania is ruled by “the Party”, whose leader is a figure called “Big Brother”; and it is always at war with the other two states. In order to control the people's lives, the Party invented language with a limited number of words, called Newspeak: its peculiarity is that it has very few words, making it nearly impossible for people to express their own ideas and opinions. In this world, free thought and individuality are forbidden, but Winston Smith (the protagonist) manages to keep a diary which he adresses to future generations and in which he writes his thoughts, memories and emotions. Winston works at the Ministry of Truth and his job is to rewrite historical records so that they fit the requests of the Party. At his job he meets Julia: initially he thinks shes’s an informant ready to expose his “crime”, but he later finds out that she’s just as rebellious as he is and they begin their secret affair. One day, both Winston and Julia are invited by O’Brien (a powerful member of the even more powerful “In- ner Party”) to have a conversation with him at his luxurious flat: there, he tells them that he hates the Party and that he is a member of the Brotherhood, an organisation that is led by Emmanuel Goldstein and that works against the Party with the main goal of overthrowing it. The Brotherhood has a manifesto, which O’Brien gives to Winston. Some time later, Winston is reading the manifesto to Julia in their room when some soldiers break in their house to arrest them. Winston is taken to the “Ministry of Love”, where he discovers that O’Brien is, indeed, a spy that works for the Party. O’Brien tortures Winston and tries to braiwash him for months, and at last he sends him to “Room 101”, the final destination for those who dare to oppose the Party. At Room 101, Winston has rats puts on his head: his biggest fear. His will breaks and he is released. In the outside world, he meets Julia once again but he does not love her, he has given up his identity and he now loves the Big Brother. Historical background The novel is set in the year of World War II. The idea for the three countries described in the book came to Orwell in 1943, the same year of the Tehran Conference where Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met to make important decisions about the post-war period. The society reflects the political atmosphere of the tyrannies in Spain, Germany and the Soviet Union. The 'character' of Big Brother is both Stalin and Hitler, both real and terrifying leaders, though on opposite sides. So Orwell made clear that he was against any form of totalitari - anism. SETTING The setting of the novel is Oceania. The story takes place in london in the year 1984. The shortages, the sites were drawn from real life. Orwell's aim was to on a memory that every reader was likely to have. Oceania's political structure is divided into three part: the Inner Party, the ruling class, the Outer Party, the educated workers and the Proles, the working class. Orwell wants the reader to see the class distinctions because the class distinctions meant the existence of conflict and class struggle. Characters The most important theme in Nineteen Eighty-Four is a sense of loss, a feeling that beauty and truth belong to the past. This is symbolised by the protagonist, Winston Smith, the last man to believe in humane values in a totalitarian age. Winston is 39 and physically weak; he experiences alienation from society and feels a de- sire for spiritual and moral integrity. He is in love with Julia and he remains loyal to her until his last torture experience. Julia is more naïve and is pessimistic about the Party, since she believes that it will never be over- thrown. O'Brien is a member of the Inner Party who tricks Winston and Julia into believing that he belongs to the secret Brotherhood.