‘Why I Write’: Finding Purpose in One of George Orwell’s Best Essays

The philosophy of one of the greatest 20th century writers should not be overlooked

George Orwell’s statue in London — “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear”;

Most people know George Orwell from his famous dystopian novel, . And that’s not surprising because it’s one of the most important pro-democracy and anti-totalitarian works in history.

But fewer people have read . Orwell, whose real name was Eric Blair, was a prolific writer until his death at the young age of 46.

At the start of the war in Ukraine, Orwell’s , applying it to Putin’s motivations for invading Ukraine. The application to the current situation in America is even more intriguing, so stay tuned for that forthcoming essay.

But in the meantime, I want to focus on Orwell’s essay, . It’s relevant to writers and non-writers alike because it touches on something philosophically deeper about humanity — purpose. And specifically, how the time and place in which someone grows up and lives can fundamentally alter and influence that purpose.

George Orwell knew he wanted to be a writer from an early age