1984

June 7th, 2007 Daryle Dickens Posted in Art, Art History |

It was this week in 1949 that George Orwell’s novel 1984 was published. The novel that let us know Big Brother was watching. Orwell was born in 1903 with the name Eric Blair. Even though he was born in India he was a British citizen. And he spent many years of his young life as a British policeman in the Indian Imperial Police. It was these years participating in the declining yet oppressive British Empire that formed Orwell’s world view. A world view that came out in his two most well known works, 1984 and Animal Farm.

His first published work, Down and Out in Paris and London was published in 1933. He wrote while teaching at a private school. The book was an account of his days living with the poor of the two cities. 1934 Orwell’s first fiction work, Burmese Days, was published. After that he was able to focus on his writing more and the following years saw a steady stream books from him being published. But it was not until 1945, when Animal Farm was published, that Orwell experiences fame.

Fame did not suit Orwell and he moved to Jura, an island off of Scotland, in an effort to escape it. Living on the island aggravated his tuberculosis which he had been living with since 1941. Even while bedridden he wrote Last Man in Europe, the original title for the novel that became 1984. He died less than a year after it was published.

What I find interesting about an artist like Orwell is that his work has made his name an adjective. Orwellian, which basically means something that takes away from a free society. Forget money, forget fame, I’d like my work in this life to become an adjective. I doubt it will happen but it is a nice idea.

I wonder what Orwell would think of life in 2007. He tried to warn us about Big Brother but it seems in the age of phones with video cameras and YouTube, we need to be wary more of the guy on the street than we do of an all seeing government. Especially if you’re a celebrity, just ask David Hasselhoff.

So be careful out there, you don’t know how is watching. But don’t let the fear of a totalitarian state stop you from creating. The very act of creating can stop such things from becoming reality.

Live to create.