Oh, what an irony!

Recent disclosures by UK’s National Archives that author extraordinaire George Orwell, who wrote about Big Brother (the State) watching its citizens in his anti-totalitarian classic 1984, was himself monitored by the British domestic security service MI5 for over two decades is perhaps one of the greatest ironies ever.

British security agents suspected Orwell of being a Communist.

According to documents from the UK National Archives, although Orwell’s left-wing views attracted the attention of the security services no action was apparently taken against him.

According to one report by police Sergeant Ewing (from January 1942 (serial 7a):

This man has advanced Communist views, and several of his Indian friends say that they have often seen him at Communist meetings. He dresses in a bohemian fashion both at his office and in his leisure hours.

Orwell was born in the town of Motihari in the North Indian state of Bihar as Eric Arthur Blair.

George Orwell was the pseudonym of the author, who wrote such fine works as Animal Farm, 1984, Burmese Days, Road to Wigan Pier and Homage to Catalonia.

  George Orwell