George Orwell was a prominent essayist and novelist , who called himself a 'democratic socialist'. However, he was considered a left wing anti-communist due to his anti-communist views, which led him to even collude with the imperial state[1] in stark contrast to the anti-authoritarian virtues he claimed to espouse.
Prominent Works
Homage to Catalonia
Animal Farm
Animal Farm was a piece written allegedly allegorically to the political situation in the Soviet Union.
1984
1984 is a novel set in a dystopian vision of the United Kingdom (referred to as Airstrip One). The novel is a thinly veiled panegyric to the plight of Trotsky, who is represented in the novel by the character Emmanuel Goldstein. He is reviled by the ruling Ingsoc Party, which is supposed to be an allegory to Stalinism. 1984 is influential in political spheres due to concepts such as Newspeak (phrases such as wrongthink are often used by the far-right today) as well as the popularisation of the ideas of Big Brother (totalitarianism) and mass surveillance.
Criticism
Despite his anti-authoritarian virtues, Orwell composed lists of personalities noted to be sympathetic to the Soviet Union, the assigned comments reeking with homophobia and anti-semitism.[2] Orwell's allegorical criticisms of the Soviet Union were published during the Second World War, thereby providing propaganda against the USSR at a time where many socialists were defending it in the fight against Fascism.