Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to illuminate debates in education by paying close attention to George Orwell’s life and works, while creating fresh perspectives on Orwell with the educational material. It presents many different lines of enquiry, which together illustrate how studying a single author can grant special access to wide-ranging, often complex ideas. The book discusses the social, literary and political contexts of Orwell’s work and speculates about how they affected him. It deals with a discussion of the cultural imaginary that surrounded the young people of Britain at the turn of the twentieth century. The book describes the conceptual repertoire available to debates about truth and truthfulness with detailed reference to Orwell’s two greatest works, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. It demonstrates how contemporary, challenging educational ideas can be illustrated and nuanced through literature and literary biography.