George Orwell Resources
Would you like to learn more about George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four? George Orwell (1903-1950) was the pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair, an English novelist whose work is known for clarity, intelligence, and wit, as well opposition to totalitarianism and social injustice. These resources available from Excellence in Literature will help you to understand Orwell: the man, his life, and his work.
George Orwell, 1936, from Charles’ George Orwell Links
Orwell resources on this site
“Take away freedom of speech, and the creative faculties dry up.”
From “As I Please,” in Tribune (28 April 1944)
George Orwell Timeline, by Steven Kreis
Animal Farm and its Relationship to History
George Orwell on Gulliver’s Travels
In his 1946 article, “Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver’s Travels,” George Orwell wrote, “If I had to make a list of six books which were to be preserved when all others were destroyed, I would certainly put Gulliver’s Travels among them.”
Orwell’s Poetry
Orwell is not known for his poetry, but he did write a few poems that we will be adding. Here is one that will give you an idea of his early style.
Awake! Young Men of England
Published under Orwell’s birth name of “Eric Blair” when he was 11 years old, this poem was published in the Oct. 2 1914 Henley and South Oxfordshire Standard newspaper.
OH! give me the strength of the Lion,
The wisdom of Reynard the Fox
And then I’ll hurl troops at the Germans
And give them the hardest of knocks.
Oh! think of the War Lord’s mailed fist,
That is striking at England today:
And think of the lives that our soldiers
Are fearlessly throwing away.
Awake! Oh you young men of England,
For if, when your Country’s in need,
You do not enlist by the thousand,
You truly are cowards indeed.
You may also enjoy “The Wounded Cricketer (Not by Walt Whitman)“.
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When will you read George Orwell’s writing in Excellence in Literature?
E1.7 Focus text: Animal Farm
E1.7 Honors text: 1984
