Eric Arthur Blair :: essays research papers

Eric Blair’s fictional name was George Orwell , born June 25,1903 in Motihari, India . At that time â€Å"India was part of the British Empire†(Orwell page 1 of 4). This was near the turn of the century, so not many people could afford to move to India with out the â€Å"British Empire†(Orwell pg. 1 of 4). Eric’s father Richard Blair was an agent of the Opium Department of the Indian Civil Service.Blair’s Grandfather served in the Indian Army for sometime before Blair’s birth. His family was â€Å" not very wealthy [Blair] later described them as lower-upper-middle class†(Orwell pg.1of 4). In fact, they owned no property or held any investment what’s so ever. When Eric was about 8 his family moved back to England and moved to a town called Henley, although his father still worked in India. Being middle-class, going to school was tough; however, his parents sent him to a private school in Sussex at the tender age of 8. By the time he was 13 he had received a â€Å"scholarship to Wellington, and soon after another to Eaton, the famous public school†(Orwell pg.1 of 4). After being forced to be good in school, he was not interested in â€Å"anymore †¦ further mental exertion†(Orwell pg. 1 of 4). So he decided to go with his private ambition, to write. At the beginning he writes â€Å" At the age of five or six [he] knew that he would be-must be a writer†(Orwell pg1 of 4). He made up his mind fast unlike many other writers. However, to be a writer one has to read literature. However, at Eaton English Lit. was not a major subject, because â€Å"most boys [ that went to Eaton] came from backgrounds either irremediably unliterary or so literary that to teach them English Literature would be absurd†(Orwell pg.1 of 4). Although he wanted to become a writer he finished â€Å"138th of 167†(Orwell pg. 2 of 4). After this he decided to join the Indian imperial Police ; however, he later left after 5 years in service. This was distracting him from his main lifestyle, a writer and because â€Å" wished to escape from †¦every form of man’s dominion over man†(Orwell pg. 2 of 4). In London he settled down into a â€Å"grotty bedroom†(Orwell pg.2 of 4). And started to teach himself how to write. He was now twenty-four and â€Å"week after week he remained in his unheated bedroom†(Orwell pg. 2 of 4). It was so cold that he â€Å"[thawed] his hands over a candle when they became to numb to write†(Orwell pg. 2 of 4).