George Orwell Hero

From Zero to… Hero?
How Orwell Writes to Define His Fate

Psychologically speaking, people are likely to root for the underdog. Though the reason for this trend is unclear- perhaps it hearkens back to countless stories in the bible. Whatever the reason may be for this pattern, it has been observed in many forms- sports teams and politics in particular. In fact, a study published in The American Political Science Review focused on this trend of rooting for the underdog, and determined that in a minimal information election, people were more likely to vote for who they were told the underdog was. Not only does the role of the underdog play an important role in politics, but it is seen throughout literature as people root for the unlikely hero. …show more content…
This chronology is intentional and display’s Orwell’s desire to portray himself as someone who has had to overcome many hardships in their life. As Orwell chronicles his life experiences through his autobiographical writings, he chooses to depict himself as the underdog who must rise up to seize control of his own fate.
In "Such, Such Were the Joys," an autobiographical writing depicting his boyhood years at a British preparatory school, Orwell speaks of his victimization at Crossgates and his covert rebellion as he tried to resist the influence of those who tormented him. Orwell opens the essay by recounting his loss of bodily control soon after his arrival at Crossgates in the form of bed-wetting. "Night after night I prayed, with a fervor never previously attained in my prayers. 'Please God, do not let me wet my bed! Oh, please God, do not let me wet my bed!'" Orwell writes of his attempt to control, through prayer, this aspect of his life in which he lost control of a basic function …show more content…
His essay, “Down and Out In Paris and London” chronicles Orwell’s experiences as he finds himself "down and out," living a life of poverty, going without food, and having to work as a dishwasher. He romanticizes poverty as a way to alleviate the guilt he felt after serving as a police officer in Burma, admitting his motives for living in poverty: “Once I have been among them and accepted by them, I should have touched bottom, and- this is what I felt: I was aware even then that it was irrational- part of my guilt would drop from me.” He makes statements in “Down and Out in Paris and London” such as that poverty "takes off a lot of anxiety," because "you have talked so often of going to the dogs- and well, here are the dogs- and you have reached them and you can stand it." According to Orwell, poverty is something that people who aren't impoverished "fear all [their] life, the thing [they] knew would happen to [then] sooner or later." Orwell, who grew up in the middle class, had no contact with poverty before he chose to go live in Paris. However, he says that poverty was "not a quarter bad as [he] had expected." However, it is important to remember that Orwell chose to go to live paycheck to paycheck in Paris- he could, and eventually does choose to return to his family and his middle class lifestyle. While in Paris, he