George Orwell – Interesting Literature

Key Quotes from Orwell’s 1984 Explained

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Nineteen Eighty-Four is the best-known work of George Orwell (1903-50), who, as well as writing two of the most enduring novels of the 1940s, was also one of the greatest essayists of the first half of the twentieth century.

Orwell’s dystopian vision of a future world in which ‘thoughtcrime’ is real, the history books are altered to remove any inconvenient facts, and citizens are monitored at all times remains as relevant now as it was when it was first published in 1949, just one year before the author’s death.

‘Shooting an Elephant’: Key Quotes Explained

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Shooting an Elephant’ is a curious work in George Orwell’s canon. It is often reprinted with his essays, but in some ways Orwell’s account of his time working as a policeman in Burma can be regarded as closer to a short story than a factual essay. Indeed, doubt has been cast over whether the events he outlines in ‘Shooting an Elephant’ ever happened to Orwell himself.

20 of the Best George Orwell Quotations

Eric Arthur Blair (1903-50), who is better-known to the world as George Orwell, was one of the leading English essayists of the first half of the twentieth century, writing about everything from the Spanish Civil War to the ideal pub to how to make a perfect cup of tea.

Of course, George Orwell is also known for his last two novels, the short fable Animal Farm (1946) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). The latter of these led to the adjective ‘Orwellian’ entering the English language.

A Summary and Analysis of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, completed in 1948 and published a year later, is a classic example of dystopian fiction. Indeed, it’s surely the most famous dystopian novel in the world, even if its ideas are known by far more people than have actually read it. (According to at least one survey, Nineteen Eighty-Four is the book people most often claim to have read when they haven’t.)

Like many novels that are more known about than are carefully read and analysed, Nineteen Eighty-Four is actually a more complex work than the label ‘nightmare dystopian vision’ can convey. Before we offer an analysis of the novel’s themes and origins, let’s briefly recap the plot.

A Summary and Analysis of George Orwell’s ‘The Prevention of Literature’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The Prevention of Literature’ is perhaps George Orwell’s most famous essay defending freedom of expression. Published in January 1946 in Polemic, the essay sees Orwell calling upon intellectuals of all backgrounds and disciplines to stand up against literary censorship of various kinds.