you!" "2+2=5," "Doublespeak" and "Thought Police" all encapsulate dark images of the potential abuse of power and manipulation of the public by corrupt Governments. In fact, the expression "Orwellian" is all that is needed to instantly evoke the dark images of totalitarian regimes depicted so well in his books. Since the publication of these books, they have been used as intellectual ammunition against Government intrusions of privacy and curtailment of freedoms by civil liberties groups, cold war warriors, libertarians and Objectivists. Indeed, the novel 1984 even features alongside other fiction by Ayn Rand for sale on the SOLO website. Rebellion and Class Struggle Eric Blair (George Orwell) was born in 1903 in India, where his father worked for the Civil Service. The family moved back to England in 1907. Orwell came from what he described as a "lower-upper-middle class" background. His parents couldn't afford his primary education at a "public school" and he was accepted as a promising pupil of talent at reduced fees. However, Orwell complained about constant bullying by both pupils and schoolmasters due to his poorer background and lower social status. "All through my boyhood I had a profound conviction that I was no good, that I was wasting my time, wrecking my talents, behaving with monstrous folly and wickedness and ingratitude - and all this, it seemed, was inescapable..." This and other experiences during his lifetime would convince Orwell that there existed in his country an unfair hierarchy based upon social status and wealth. Nevertheless, he