Famous English Writer
Aldous Huxley
The best representative of the intellectual stream in the English
novel is Aldous Huxley (1894 - 1963). A. Huxley was a grandson of the great
natural historian Thomas Huxley. He 21521b112v brought analytical scientific methods into
fiction. In Antic Hay (1923) he
depicted, in a humorous way, irresponsible people who try to have fun. In his
masterpiece Point Counter Point
(1928) he presented a picture of the crisis in bourgeois society. He excelled
in recording the uncertainty
and aimlessness of intellectuals after World War I. Influenced by Lawrence, he wanted to
achieve a harmonious balance between emotions and intellect, flash and reason.
In this novel he put into contrast two different characters, Philip Quarles, an
intellectual struggling hopelessly and tragically to acquire simple human
happiness, and the well-balanced personality of Mark Rampion, living a full and
happy life. The plots in Huxley's novels only form the background and are not
all-important. Growing up in a purely intellectual family, Huxley understood
that exclusive concentration on intellectual activity tends to hinder genuine
human happiness. In his Utopian fantastic novels Brave New World (1932) a Brave
New World Revisited (1958), he created a dreadful
vision of the future world where children are produced by chemical reactions.
He criticised with satire the beliefs in a mechanical world. His last
science-fiction novel Ape and Essence
(1948), is a protest against atomic wars. It is a vision of the twenty-second
century when people return to primitive life after the world has been destroyed
by atomic bombs.
George Orwell
George Orwell (1903 - 1950) was an important prosaist, journalist
and essayist. His real name was Eric Blair but from 1930 he used the pseudonym
Orwell (a name of an English river). He was born in India into a family of English
civil servants. He was sent back to England
to be educated at Eton, a prestigious school
for rich boys, and as a scholarship student he felt the weight of his lower social
status. After Eton he went to Burma,
where he joined the Imperial Police. His discomfort in this service was
captured in his famous essay Shooting the
Elephant (1950) and his novel Burmese
Days (1934). Orwell felt sympathy for people of lower economic classes. He
struggled to survive
at low-paying jobs, first in Paris and later in London. This experience
was displayed in his next autobiographic novel Down and Out in Paris and London (1933). He sympathised with the
socialists and participated as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War on the side
of the Republicans. He dedicated his documentary book Homage to Catalonian (1938) to them. However, he was not a follower
of any political party; he took an independent view and was sceptical of
communism as well as capitalism. He continued to write novels, essays, and
political articles during the 1930s and 1940s.
His most famous books are the political allegories of Stalinism - Animal Farm (1945) and the anti-utopian Nineteen-Eighty-Four (1949). Animal farm is a modern fable. Orwell
satirises the events of the Russian Revolution and the subsequent rise to power
of the communist dictatorship. The farm represents the land that was a symbol
of the Soviet Union. Farmer Jones (the tsar)
virtually exploits the farm animals (the people), because he has always done so
and he feels it right. When the animals are driven to revolt, they are led by
the intelligent pigs. The plot
parallels historical events: the idealistic revolution, the establishment of
secret police (the dogs), forced civilisation of the farm and the exploration
of the workers, as represented by the horse Boxer. The leader-pig Napoleon has
become more like the old farmer, even walking on his hind legs, while the
enslaved animals live in despair. The revolutionary doctrine that "All animals are equal" has
been corrupted to "Some animals are
more equal than others".
Nineteen-Eighty-Four describes England
under a dictatorship of mechanised bureaucracy. It is a story of Winston Smith,
the man who was dissatisfied with the system, but had no chance of changing it
and finally his personality was absolutely destroyed. Orwell shows the real
totality with all its atrocities and nonsense.
George Orwell died from tuberculosis in 1950.
Charles Dickens
Charles
Dickens was born in 1812. He became the main leader of English realism. He grew
up in a very poor family. His parents had problems with the police, because
they owed money for accommodation. His father was a small official and he was
arrested and put to the jail for debtors.
Later on, also his mother was arrested and so he had to earn money for living
in the age of twelve. He was working in shoe shop. Because of his childhood he
was usually writing about children without home or family. He usually derived
the stories from his own experience. His famous books where a child is the main
hero are Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. His first book was the Chronicle
of the Pickwick Club. In this book he criticised jails, poorhouses and social
rates. This book brought him popularity and he became famous.
Now I would like
to speak about his well-known book called Oliver Twist. This book is also known
as The Adventures of Oliver Twist. The main hero is a small boy, a son of
unknown parents. He is brought up in a poorhouse and he has to suffer from
cruelty and hunger. When he successfully escapes, he travels to London and joins a crime
guild. The guild's leader is Fagin and the best thieves are Ferina and Bill.
Oliver is trying not to commit criminal actions. Once the guild commits a small
thievery and innocent Oliver is arrested. Before he is sentenced, Mr. Brownlow
rescues him. However Oliver is again abducted by his old guild. He stays with
his friends. In the next action he is wounded and he remains on the venue. Mrs.
Roza finds small Oliver and helps him. He is very satisfied with this care. The
members of the guild try again to abduct Oliver but they are arrested and
executed. Mr. Brownlow adopts Oliver and he becomes his heir.
