For years, Orwell had periods of sickness, and he was officially diagnosed with tuberculosis in He spent several months at the Preston Hall Sanatorium trying to recover, but he would continue to battle with tuberculosis for the rest of his life. At the time he was initially diagnosed, there was no effective treatment for the disease. To support himself, Orwell took on various writing assignments.
He wrote numerous essays and reviews over the years, developing a reputation for producing well-crafted literary criticism. In , Orwell landed a job with the BBC as a producer. He developed news commentary and shows for audiences in the eastern part of the British Empire.
Orwell drew such literary greats as T. Eliot and E. Forster to appear on his programs. With World War II raging on, Orwell found himself acting as a propagandist to advance the country's national interest. I believe that in the present political situation the broadcasting of British propaganda to India is an almost hopeless task.
Sometimes called the conscience of a generation, Orwell is best known for two novels: Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Animal Farm was an anti-Soviet satire in a pastoral setting featuring two pigs as its main protagonists. These pigs were said to represent Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. The novel brought Orwell great acclaim and financial rewards. This bleak vision of the world divided into three oppressive nations stirred up controversy among reviewers, who found this fictional future too despairing.
In the novel, Orwell gave readers a glimpse into what would happen if the government controlled every detail of a person's life, down to their own private thoughts. Orwell believed that "ugly and inaccurate" English enabled oppressive ideology and that vague or meaningless language was meant to hide the truth. The couple remained together until her death in According to several reports, they had an open marriage, and Orwell had a number of dalliances.
In the couple adopted a son, whom they named Richard Horatio Blair, after one of Orwell's ancestors. Their son was largely raised by Orwell's sister Avril after Eileen's death.
Near the end of his life, Orwell proposed to editor Sonia Brownell. He married her in October , only a short time before his death.
Brownell inherited Orwell's estate and made a career out of managing his legacy. Orwell died of tuberculosis in a London hospital on January 21, Orwell not only wrote about state surveillance, but he also experienced it. Biographer Gordon Bowker found the Soviet Union had an undercover agent spying on Orwell and other leftists while they were fighting in the Spanish Civil War in the s. In addition, his own government kept track of Orwell a fact he was likely unaware of.
This began in when he volunteered to write for a left-wing publication in France. The police also paid attention when Orwell visited coal miners in while gathering information for The Road to Wigan Pier In , a police sergeant reported to MI5 that Orwell had "advanced communist views" and dressed "in a bohemian fashion, both at his office and in his leisure hours.
Financial and popular success eluded Orwell until Animal Farm , his allegorical look at the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. But despite the book's quality, in Orwell encountered trouble while trying to get it published. Some didn't seem to understand it: T. Eliot , a director of publisher Faber and Faber, noted, "Your pigs are far more intelligent than the other animals, and therefore the best qualified to run the farm.
Publisher Jonathan Cape almost took on the book, but the Ministry of Information advised against antagonizing the Soviet Union, an ally in World War II however, the official who gave this warning was later discovered to be a Soviet spy. With rejections accumulating, Orwell even considered self-publishing before Animal Farm was accepted by Fredric Warburg's small press.
The success that followed the book's release probably had some publishers regretting their earlier refusals. This led to POUM members being arrested, tortured and even killed. Orwell escaped Spain before he was taken into custody — but when he traveled to Paris in to work as a correspondent, he felt he could still be in danger from Communists who were targeting their enemies.
A gun could offer protection, but as a civilian Orwell couldn't easily acquire one. His solution was to turn to Ernest Hemingway. Orwell visited Hemingway at the Ritz and explained his fears. Hemingway, who admired Orwell's writing, handed over a Colt. It's unknown if Orwell ever had to use the weapon. While some students took advantage of and mocked Huxley's poor eyesight, Orwell reportedly stood up for him and enjoyed having Huxley as a teacher.
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