1984 By George Orwell Essay

George Orwell a world-famous British writer was known for his two radical books, Animal Farm and 1984. Although those are his two most famous works, he has written many other essays and even served his country in the past. Orwell was born as Eric Arthur Blair on June 25, 1903, in India, where his father worked as a supervisor of the opium trade for a number of years (1). In 1907, Orwell and his family, except for his father, returned to England and characterizes himself as a “lower-upper middle class” citizen due to him being descendent of an aristocrat but not being very wealthy (1). As a result of the family's financial situation, Orwell was sent off to boarding school at the age of eight. The school was known for being “snobbish and expensive”,

By this time the British Empire has occupied Burma since the late 19th century, leaving many of the native Burmese people loathing the British (3). Orwell finished his duties and returned back to England in 1927 and dedicated himself to writing (1). Nine years after his time in Burma in 1936, Orwell released his essay Shooting an Elephant, a short narrative-like essay on his experiences in Burma. In the essay, Orwell describes the relationship between him and the Burmese natives as him being “hated by a large number of people” with people sitting on street corners jeering and sneering at him (4). One day Orwell was alerted that an elephant had gone berserk and destroyed property and crops, even taking the life of an Indian man (4). Orwell grabbed his rifle and headed down to the patties where the elephant was said to be; although not rampaging anymore the Burmese people goaded him to kill the elephant with his rifle (4). Ending this narrative-like scenario with a seemingly peaceful elephant being killed due to the pressure of