George Orwell, as told by his only child

Is 1984 still known as a work of fiction?  Or has it officially crossed into the realm of reality thanks to modern governments?  If the former still holds true, it remains my favorite, which is why I was drawn to an essay published at The European Conservative today, which shed new light (at least for me) on the kind of man that George Orwell was and provided fresh details about the time in his life when he was writing my favorite novel, as told by his only child, a son.

For those who don’t already know, Orwell was only a pseudonym.  His real name was Eric Arthur Blair, and in 1950, he died at just 46 years old after a long battle with chronic health issues.  The author of the essay, Jonathon Van Maren, highlighted Orwell’s evolution regarding political affiliations — at one point, he was an anarchist, at another he was a socialist — but he was always socially conservative and “vehemently opposing” of abortion.  Below is an interesting story about Orwell’s involvement in Spain’s civil war:

In 1936, Orwell also travelled [sic] to Spain to fight Franco’s Nationalists, took a bullet in the throat, and eventually fled, fearing that the Soviet-backed communists there would kill him along with other socialists who dissented from their goals and methods. That experience transformed Orwell into a prescient and passionate anti-Stalinist[.]

Of course, his “passionate anti-Stalinist” attitude was in fine form if you’ve read Orwell’s 1945 book, Animal Farm.

Aside from Orwell’s literary genius, Van Maren notes that he was also a dedicated and devoted father to an adopted son, raising the boy as a single parent from 1944 until his death.  To write the essay, Van Maren actually spoke to Orwell’s heir, Richard Horatio Blair, about what those years were like and who Orwell was as a father.  From the piece:

‘My story starts on the 14th of May, 1944, when I was adopted by Eric Arthur Blair and his wife Eileen,’ he [Richard] told me. …

Orwell and Eileen adopted Richard when he was only three weeks old, and Orwell ensured that he alone would be known as Richard’s father by burning the names of the birth parents from the birth certificate with a cigarette. Richard would never know Eileen, as she died a mere nine months after the adoption took place, leaving the little boy and Orwell to fend for themselves. Some of Orwell’s friends suggested that perhaps he turn Richard over to someone else, but Orwell was having none of it. ‘I’ve got my son now, I’m not going to give him over,’ Blair recalled. Blair even remembers Orwell ‘changing my nappy and feeding me after my mother died.’

Blair described his father as a “really hands-on” dad despite a culture of stoicism, who was concerned about his boy’s “television consumption,” saying:

‘As a father he was completely devoted to me. … He was terribly worried about my emotional development simply because he had TV, and he was very concerned that the views [on TV] might be passed on to me.’

I found it very interesting to learn, too, that one of my favorite works almost didn’t exist:

One of Richard Blair’s few vivid memories of this happy time was a nearly tragic accident. Three cousins … had come to visit … and they embarked on a camping trip … and went on a fishing expedition to a shepherd’s hut. A sudden storm capsized the boat and Orwell, his son, and the three relatives nearly drowned. … Orwell, weakened by tuberculosis and attempting to swim out of the whirlpool that had tossed them into the sea, spotted a seal watching their misadventure. They were rescued by a lobster boat. An unplanned dip in the sea might ‘sound silly,’ Blair told me, but ‘this sort of accident at sea can very quickly turn into tragedy.’ If things had gone differently, 1984 would never have been published[.]

I found the essay fascinating, but despite my sincerest love of Orwell’s written legacy (making mine a biased opinion), it has a deeply important lesson for the reader — it reminds us that all the greatest professional accomplishments in the world are quickly eclipsed by a legacy of having been a good and devoted father.  No doubt, Orwell’s work made a tremendous impact on the world of literature and beyond; as Van Maren said, his phrases like “Newspeak” and “Big Brother” are still used today, and his pen name has become synonymous with the characteristics of dystopian regimes (Orwellian).

But all of that had less impact than his contribution to the world as an attentive and involved father, which is much more valuable and life-changing than any genius piece of literature could ever be.  Greater than our appreciation for 1984, or Animal Farm, or any other cultural and historical treasures, should be our appreciation for a man’s dedication to fatherhood and his children.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required.