Table Of ContentThe Complete Works of
GEORGE ORWELL
(1903–1950)
Contents
The Novels
BURMESE DAYS
A CLERGYMAN’S DAUGHTER
KEEP THE ASPIDISTRA FLYING
COMING UP FOR AIR
ANIMAL FARM
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
The Memoirs
DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON
THE ROAD TO WIGAN PIER
HOMAGE TO CATALONIA
The Poetry
LIST OF POEMS
Selected Non-Fiction
LIST OF ESSAYS
LIST OF BOOK REVIEWS
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
The Delphi Classics Catalogue
© Delphi Classics 2013
Version 1
The Complete Works of
GEORGE ORWELL
By Delphi Classics, 2013
COPYRIGHT
Complete Works of George Orwell
First published in the United Kingdom in 2013 by Delphi Classics.
© Delphi Classics, 2013.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
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The Novels
Motihari, Bihar, in North-East India — where Eric Blair (known world-wide by his pen name George Orwell) was born. His great-
grandfather Charles Blair was a wealthy country gentleman in Dorset who married Lady Mary Fane, daughter of Thomas Fane, 8th
Earl of Westmorland, and had income as an absentee landlord of plantations in Jamaica.
Orwell as a baby
Orwell as a young man
BURMESE DAYS
Orwell’s first novel, Burmese Days, was published by Harper and Brothers in 1934 in the USA. Due to
concerns about possible libellous content in the depiction of certain characters, the novel was not
published until the following year in the UK. The work is a scathing attack on colonial life in Burma
during the British occupation. The novel is centred on John Flory, a thirty five year old teak merchant,
who has become disillusioned with colonial life and the attitudes of his fellow Europeans towards Burma
and its people. Flory has a great appreciation of Burmese culture and longs to meet a female companion
that shares his views and values. When Elizabeth Lackersteen, the orphaned niece of the timber firm
manager, arrives on the scene, Flory believes she is the answer to his desires. Elizabeth possesses none
of the qualities or values that Flory wishes in a partner and yet he deceives himself, falls in love and
pursues her.
Orwell explores the issues of imperialism, racism and the notion of personal identity in Burmese
Days. Flory is trapped between his admiration for Burmese culture and dislike of colonial rule, as well
as his attachment to English traditions and expectations. He persists in his pursuit of Elizabeth because
she fulfils the role of wife that is expected for an English woman and is what society deems a suitable
partner for an English gentleman. While Flory is critical of European racism towards the indigenous
population, he is content to have a Burmese mistress, but would never consider it appropriate to marry a
non- European.
Orwell had spent five years during the 1920’s as a police officer in Burma. He had witnessed the
nature and impact of imperialism and the horror of the exploitation of the people by colonial rulers. The
idea of a minority being dominated and exploited by a ruling class, and the subjugation of the individual
in society is a theme that is repeated in Orwell’s later works. These ideas reach a horrifying conclusion
in the dystopian masterpiece Nineteen- Eighty Four. In Burmese Days, Orwell reveals how this
oppressive organisation of society benefits no one, the ruled are denied freedom and individuals in the
ruling class are encouraged to become dehumanised. It is through this type of environment that identity is
lost and atrocities committed.
