June 6: On This Day in World History … briefly
Eric Arthur Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist and essayist, journalist and critic, whose work is characterised by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism and outspoken support of democratic socialism.
1949: Orwell’s bleak outlook
In his novel ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ published on June 6, 1949, George Orwell painted a grim picture of the dangers awaiting society if it allows politicians excessive power. In Orwell’s view, this would lead to the establishment of a totalitarian state in which citizens would have little say and government has a stranglehold on the spread of information, systematically distorting truth to suit its own ends.
The argument was one which the author brooded on for some years and picked up the theme of his 1945 bestseller ‘Animal Farm’, which centered on the corrupting effects of political power.
Although suffering from tuberculosis at the time, he was determined to complete the book and wrote the last pages in a remote house in the Hebrides, in between periods of hospitalisation.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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