To Orwell Today,

Dear Jackie Jura,

My name is Sophie, I go to an International School in Germany, and have lived in London for several years. I am doing the International Baccalaureate, and for that need to write an Extended Essay which is very important and counts for my final points. It is a 4000 word paper, and I am working on Orwell's 1984, and Yevgeny Zamyatin's We. I am looking at both author's backgrounds and how their backgrounds affected the way both authors wrote about the future, how it gave them ideas and how the two books differ.

I was wondering if you could help me out maybe with some research skills, or some points of information.

Thank you very much and best regards,
Sophie

Greetings Sophie,

On my website I have commentary about Zamyatin, including a review of "We" by Orwell. See ORWELL REVIEWS ZAMYATIN'S "WE" under which there are links to other Zamyatin exchanges.

If you want to understand how Orwell's background affects his writing then you should read a few biographies which will then enable you to recognize aspects of his life and thought processes in his writing. See RECOMMENDED BOOKS ON ORWELL

Under the heading WHY ORWELL WROTE "1984" there are some essays about personal aspects of his life, which will help you in your research.

An example, among others, of Orwell putting himself into his characters is: ORWELL SPEAKS THRU HEROES

I hope that gives you a good start on your research. The bottom line is - you have to do the reading - and a good place to do some of that is my Orwell Today website which I ask that you cite as your source in the usual manner.

All the best,
Jackie Jura