About the Author: George Orwell

5 Facts

-Born Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell was a pen name), 1903, Motihari, India
-Worked as a police officer in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma
-Lived periodically in both London and Paris.
-Between 1932 and 1934 worked in various different schools as a teacher but left in 1934 with no desire or plans to ever resume the role.
-In 1941 worked for the BBC creating broadcasts with the intent of countering Nazi propaganda in India which had been conducted with the intention of undermining imperial links.

5 Motifs

-Big Brother
-Double Think
-Urban Decay
-State Rituals
-Telescreens

5 Characters

-Winston Smith
-Julia
-Mr Charington
-Old Major
-Napoleon

5 Themes

-Totalitarianism
-Corruption
-Social Injustice
-Poverty
-Class Divisions

5 Works

-Road to Wigan Pier
-Animal Farm
-1984
-Down and Out in Paris and London
-Homage to Catalonia

Much like Kafka, much of Orwell's work is highly influenced by his own experiences although this is shown in a drastically different manner. Where as Kafka's work is very surreal and often inward looking, Orwell's focuses much more on the world around him taken often (in some cases quite literally) a journalistic view point. although his fictional works contain a lot of strong visual imagery and motifs I find his non fiction much more compelling and a more interesting potential start point for creating practical work. Part of this is due to the fact that I feel, novels such as 1984 and Animal Farm, have already had so much work produced for them and become such a huge part of the collective conscious that I feel it'd be hard to create a truly personal response to them.