George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair on June 25, 1903, in Motihari, India. His parents were agents of the British Empire in the British Raj. Before his death on January 21, 1950, from complications of tuberculosis, Orwell wrote five novels. Of the five, Orwell's 1984 is said to have had a profound effect on the way people thought during the mid 20th century. When 1984 was published in 1949, the Cold War had just begun. The novel's ending was pessimistic and thus seemed like an attack on socialism in Communist Russia. The novel was also considered to be the prophecy of what would happen to the West if the communist ideology spread. The idea for writing 1984 also came from an American economist name James Burnham. Meyers notes that "Burnham predicted that if Germany had won the war, the world would be divided into three areas"(125). This idea is used by Orwell because the society in 1984 is centered around three areas- Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. Even more so, the rest of the symbolism throughout the novel is based on reality and factual events and or persons.
             Koestler, a refugee from Fascist and Communist prisons, was the model for the protagonist of 1984 - Winston Smith. Orwell chose this name because he felt that the reader could relate to Winston. By using the last name 'Smith,' it conveys the universal appeal of everyman. The name Winston, according to Gardner, was chosen because Winston Churchill ruled England at the time and was seen as a hero. (118) From this, Orwell puts forth the idea that anyone can do anything and rise to greatness. The physical setting of 1984 came from the actual way London looked during the war years. The Ministry of Truth, the place where Winston worked was derived British Broadcast Company (BBC) building. Inside the BBC, there was a restaurant that had a dish called 'Victory Pie.' And thus, Orwell used Victory as the word that proceeds as all objects - Victory gin, Victory apartments, etc...