To Orwell Today,

Hi Jackie,

Happy St George's Day. It's interesting that the english people are once again calling for St George's Day to be made a national holiday in the uk. ORWELL I'm sure would have supported the idea.

Regards,
Raymond Wills

Hi Raymond,

Thanks for telling me that today, April 23, is St George's Day or I would have been unaware. I am quite shocked to learn that English people aren't allowed to get excited about St George, their patron saint, and that the government doesn't honour St George in any way.

English demand St George Day holiday ("Our heritage is being eroded. We need a day for the English"). Scotsman, Apr 23, 2005

It's just more proof that the government of England doesn't represent the English people.

St George is a legendary hero because he defended the citizens by killing the dragon to which the government of his day was regularly sacrificing human beings. Maybe that's why the government doesn't honour him. He strikes too close to home.

THE LEGEND OF ST GEORGE & THE DRAGON

You're right when you say that George Orwell would be pleased that the English are now taking up the cause of St George and demanding that he be properly honoured and remembered.

Ever since I came back from HAY-ON-WYE BOOK TOWN where I found the MANUSCRIPT OF 1984 and saw the vision of St George slaying the Dragon in the trees above while I unknowingly browsed for books below (photo of husband superimposed over pic he took of me). I have been of the opinion that Eric Blair named the first part of his pseudonym after St George the Dragonslayer.

And upon reading all of Orwell's books I've noticed that he mentions "St George" quite often and always in the context of quintessential Englishness. He no doubt admired St George for his dragon slaying abilities and approved of him being England's patron saint.

Actually, I consider George ORWELL England's 20th century dragon slayer. He too should have a national holiday named after him. It would be "St George Orwell Day" celebrated on June 8th, the day 1984 was published in 1949. "1984" has done more to wake up the people of the world to the evil in their midst than any other piece of English literature.

All the best,
Jackie Jura

PS - A red rose is the symbol of St George and on St George's Day people are supposed to wear a red rose in their lapel. The red rose also symbolizes George Orwell because he loved roses and had planted many rose bushes, including on his wife's grave. That's why a rose bush was planted on his grave. Its blossoms are red and they were in bloom when I was there. See VISITING ORWELL'S GRAVE

HAPPY ST GEORGE ORWELL DAY (...June 8th, the anniversary of the publication of Orwell's masterpiece, "1984")

GEORGE ORWELL'S PEN NAME (reader asks origins of)
...I personally believe that he chose the name "George" after Saint George, the patron saint of England. I think this because Orwell mentions St. George and the Dragon in several of his books - usually as the name of a hotel or drinking establishment, of which there are hundreds so-named in England. Here's an excerpt from COMING UP FOR AIR: "...I turned the corner and ran down to the George....The George had altered too, all except the name. The front had been dolled up till it looked like one of those riverside hotels, and the sign was different. It was curious that although till that moment I hadn't thought of it once in twenty years, I suddenly found that I could remember every detail of the old sign, which had swung there ever since I could remember. It was a crude kind of picture, with St George on a very thin horse trampling on a very fat dragon, and in the corner, though it was cracked and faded, you could read the little signature, 'Wm. Sandford, Painter & Carpenter'. The new sign was kind of artistic-looking. You could see it had been painted by a real artist. St George looked a regular pansy. The cobbled yard, where the farmers' traps used to stand and the drunks used to puke on Saturday nights, had been enlarged to about three times its size and concreted over, with garages all round it. I backed the car into one of the garages and got out..."

After leaving the museum we drove all over Addis, shopping in the markets and absorbing the atmosphere of this ancient city. I bought a book on the history of Ethiopia published when Haille Selassie was Emperor -- and also a beautiful Bible Stand which is perfect for holding any book. It has a depiction of St George slaying the dragon... See OUT OF AFRICA

ORWELL'S TYPEWRITER

ORWELL TRULY A GLOBAL FIGURE and ORWELL GREATEST ETONIAN OF ALL