Orwell served in Burma as a member of The Indian Imperial police, saw poverty and failure, but the Spanish Civil War and the rise of Hitler, and the NAZIs, gave him a political direction, and his work after 1936, was to warn against the establishment of a totalitarian state. There is more at the site, with more background. Orwell died Seven months after 1984 was published, due to the effects of tuberculosis, and an allergic reaction to a new medication.
While he was in Hospital, writing 1984 they took away his typewriter, but he continued to write longhand with a ballpoint pen, despite his failing health

They took away his typewriter? I wonder what the story behind that is.

Thank goodness he did continue to write. Once 1984 passed, people seemed to think that we could let our guard down. MMMHHHMMMM!

Great clip, thanks!

It was the decay of language that preoccupied Orwell for whom language is the site of ideological struggle against the bad and for the good.

mmm, is it ironic that authorities took his typewriter while writing 1984?

Yeah, it has conspiracy written ALL over it! Hahaha, I love stuff like this. *LOL*

I've always found Orwell to be rather prophetic and maybe the "all-seeing eye" guys knew and tried to silence him. Haha... yeah well, it's a just a theory.

I'm not sure if you could call Orwell a prophet. His political position seemed to result from him being a witness.

Thank you, Eric Blair.

True pokkets. But prophetic nonetheless. What's going on in the world today can arguably, to many, be said to be history repeating itself. In that sense, 1984 very much reads like a screenplay for the future and even for the times we live in right now.

To me anyway, 1984 could just as well be called "The Orwellian Book of Revelations."

the story behind the book reminds me of aldous huxley and his utopian novel Island written just before he died
too
he also wrote brave new world,on a similar themes to orwells 1984

Hmm, I think there is a message here! Don't write prophetic novels or you will die! Seriously though, the fight to keep Big Brother from taking over is constant. I've seen too many instances of the powers that be in the US trying to sneak in a little censorship (or a lot) while they think we are not paying attention. We must remember to never let our guard down. And, yes, it is ironic that they took away his typewriter. I wonder if THAT contributed to his death!

His typewriter may have been taken just because it was making noise, with the Nurses, telling him he was keeping people awake, 'bothering' people, while the nurses had no idea what he was doing. There is the possibility that someone who did know suggested something to the nurses, and let them do the dirty work, (they always do) While this is speculation, I have no doubt, that when his typewriter was taken, his mind would have become set. and made him determined to finish. It was a message he knew the world needed to hear. After all, the Proletariat trusts 'Big Brother'.

There is a reason they made all U.S. high school students read "1984" back in the 70's.

Do they still make it required reading?

High School students required to read a book? Please. Just think of the hit to the self-esteem of those who are linguistically challenged (illiterate). High School is all about learning how to live in peace with the earth and learning about progressive reforms that increase the paychecks of unions.