George Orwell and his novel 1984 have had a prolific impact on dystopian and political literature. The reason for this is simple: Orwell managed to encapsulate the great political fears he experienced throughout his life. The rise of totalitarian governments in Spain, the former Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany gave way to the Spanish Civil War and ultimately World War II. These events, among others, led Orwell to form his own political beliefs and opinions about socialism and totalitarianism, which would one day become his literary works. Orwell was born to an English family in Motihari, India, in 1903. After going to boarding school, preparatory school and then, finally, secondary school at the prestigious Eton, he decided to join the Indian Imperial Police. He received his education in Burma in 1922, but once he arrived and settled in he had a surprising awakening. The Burmese were treated by the British as objects rather than people; something that Orwell had only read about in fictional works, but had not yet encountered in reality. The Burmese were beaten, ridiculed and humiliated by the imperial police. This had a huge impact on Orwell by showing him exactly how the British had treated their colonies and the ruthlessness of imperialism, but it was not until 1927, while he was home on leave, that he finally decided to tender his resignation. In his book, entitled The Road to Wigan Pier, Orwell states that after his service in Burma he felt “an immense burden of guilt which” “he had to atone for” (246). It was after those formative years, in the Imperial Police, that a more formal opinion of socialism and totalitarianism began to form, as well as giving him a basis for the oppression he suffers in 198... middle of paper. .....witnessing the betrayal of English citizens his contempt for the Soviet Union and the communist regimes increased. Five years after Animal Farm was published, 1984 was published and has since been seen as a parallel to Stalin's Soviet Union. Orwell sadly died in 1950, two years after the publication of 1984 and therefore never had the pleasure of seeing how much of an impact his novel created. If anything, his works serve as a “warning against totalitarianism” (Aubrey) and a warning to all future generations. Orwell's political beliefs and ideologies formed by all his experiences, from the Indian Imperial Police, to the Spanish Civil War, to World War II, his novels and diaries will continue, to represent a historical moment in which the political system in all the world were in a state of turmoil, the likes of which had never been experienced before or since.