George Orwell and his novel 1984 have had a prolific impact on dystopian and political literature. The reason is simple: Orwell succeeded in summarizing the great political fears experienced during his life. The rise of totalitarian governments in Spain, the former Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany gave rise to the Spanish Civil War and ultimately World War II. These events, among others, led Orwell to form his own political beliefs and opinions on socialism and totalitarianism, which would one day become his literary works. Orwell was born into an English family in Motihari, India, in 1903. After attending boarding school, preparatory school, then finally high school at the prestigious Eton, he decided to join the Indian Imperial Police. He received his training in Burma in 1922, but once arrived and settled, he experienced a surprising awakening. The Burmese were treated, by the British, as objects rather than people; something Orwell had only read about in works of fiction, but had yet to encounter in reality. The Burmese were beaten, ridiculed and humiliated by the imperial police. It had a huge impact on Orwell by showing him exactly how the English had treated their colonies and the cruelty of imperialism, but it was not until 1927, while he was home on leave, that he finally decided to submit his resignation. In his book The Road to Wigan Pier, Orwell states that after his service in Burma he felt "an immense weight of guilt" for which he "had to atone" (246). It was after these formative years, in the Imperial Police, that he began to form a more formal opinion on socialism and totalitarianism, as well as giving it a basis for the oppression he suffered in 198. .... middle of paper. .....witnessing the betrayal of English citizens, his contempt for the Soviet Union and communist regimes grew. Five years after Animal Farm was published, 1984 was released and has since been seen as a parallel to Stalin's Soviet Union. Orwell sadly died in 1950, two years after the publication of 1984 and so he never had the pleasure of seeing the impact his novel created. On the contrary, his works serve as a “warning against totalitarianism” (Aubrey) and a warning for all future generations. Orwell's political beliefs and ideologies, formed from all his experiences, from the Indian Imperial Police to the Spanish Civil War to World War II, his novels and diaries will go on to represent an era in history where the entire world's political system was in a state of upheaval, never experienced before or since.