“Everyone keeps coming at me, wanting me to lecture, to write commissioned booklets, to join this and that, etc. – you don’t know how I pine to be free of it all and have time to think again.”
– George Orwell, writing to his friend while processing the success of “Animal Farm”
Class Criticism at its Best
George Orwell famously described his upbringing as “lower-upper-middle class,” a phrase that offers valuable context for understanding the themes that permeate his work. Orwell often explored issues of poverty, class inequality, and the harsh realities of living conditions in his writing.
His own experiences, including a series of low-paying jobs in his early years as a writer, deeply influenced his critical perspective on social and economic structures.
George Orwell’s First Creative Dollar
- The Amount: 40 Pounds (50.53 US Dollars), worth $991.21 in today’s money
- The Project: Down and Out in Paris and London (1933)
The Back Story
Most of us are introduced to George Orwell as a novelist via our English teachers, but he was best known in his day as an essayist, journalist, columnist, and reviewer. Even though he first published the book above in 1933, it wasn’t until 1945 that he published the renowned classic, Animal Farm.
It’s important to note the gap of 12 years between his first book and his first “clearly successful book.” It should be obvious that a man like Orwell wrote for reasons other than money or success, especially since he had the discipline to keep up laborious low paid projects over such a long period.
Also, he probably made money here and there for his smaller writing projects, but Down and Out in Paris and London was the first book I could find with an actual advance.
He went through several rejections starting in 1930 before the book Down and Out in Paris and London was published three years later.
Like many authors, he chose to publish under a pseudonym rather than his own name—a topic I explore in my class on the significance and impact of pseudonyms. Other names he considered included “X,” “P.S. Burton,” “Kenneth Miles,” and “H. Lewis Allways.”
I think he chose well. George Orwell has a ring to it.
“The chief danger to freedom of thought and speech…is not the direct interference of…any official body. If publishers and editors exert themselves to keep certain topics out of print, it is not because they are frightened of persecution but because they are frightened of public opinion. In this country, intellectual cowardice is the worst enemy a writer or journalist has to face.”
– Preface to the book Animal Farm
In preparation for writing this, I tracked down Animal Farm as a cartoon from 1954 and settled in for a typical quarantine-style day with our two year old (a lot of bizarre historical videos on Youtube, lots of cheese sticks, and lots of Little Critter books).
This cartoon was far darker than most we encounter (and that old Disney stuff is pretty violent). The “very bad” (two year old words) drunk farmer and the pigs that acted like arrogant “meanies” caused my husband to walk in and question if the cartoon was appropriate for a toddler. It’s not.
- What do you think?
- Why has George Orwell had such a long lasting impact on literature and reached such a wide variety of people?
Disclaimer: As always, if you need psychological or financial advice please seek a professional for your specific situation.
Posted in First Creative Dollar, Reading/Writing
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