The reading of George Orwell’s 1984 has been undergoing a revival, and for good reason. It’s because of the election of Donald Trump, his new policies, and his behavior.
Among his policies are literally attempting to eradicate the legacy of his predecessor, lying to the American people, and believing those lies, spreading fear and hatred of people from other cultures, to name a few. His own election came from the very rich, individuals and corporations, controlling elections.
Don’t let the title fool you. Although this book was written in 1948 (Orwell reversed the last two digits of that year for the title; it was originally to be called “The Last Man in Europe”), the aspects of this book applies today more than ever. It was never meant to be a prophecy. It was and still is a satire of present day society, both Orwell’s time and ours. We glided along to this without any interruptions, and it was meant to embellish the pitfalls of society should these present trends continue. Trends meaning modern day governments and their controls on their peoples. Here, Orwell was right on the mark.
To briefly summarize, the setting is in London, Airstrip One (Britain or England). The world divided into three great superstates: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia, all expansions of the United States, Russia, and China, respectively.
Oceania is ruled by the party, headed by Big Brother. There is the Inner Party, the Outer Party, and the Proles (the dumb masses, 85% of the population. Nobody cares about them.)
Winston Smith works for the Outer Party, altering events in past publications by revising then news stories and putting (executed) people out of existence by erasing all traces of them, to prevent martyrdoms.
There is hatred of the other two superstates, eternal warfare with one or the other, a love for Big Brother, but no one else, and the language of Newspeak, a computer-like language meant to be reduced, until everyone speaks like a robot. If anyone is found to be a freethinker, the Thought Police comes after them, destroys their sense of individuality, and completely breaking his spirit until becoming a shell of a men by unlimited torture and brainwashing, and then building him back up, putting in their party’s beliefs. If the party says 2+2=5, the “convert” believes it.
This shows that any individual’s spirit, no matter how strong he thinks he is, can be broken, even if that person thinks otherwise.
The party controls all knowledge, nature, history, and emotion. Everyone must go along like robots or they get vaporized.
Winston Smith meets Julia, and they fall in love. They make love, resist the party, and join the “Brotherhood.”
Unfortunately, they are caught and are re-programmed. The third section of the book depicts the re-programming of Winston Smith, through torture and brainwashing.
What is fascinating about this book are the parallels with today’s society. Observe the political (and technical) scene in the U.S., and in other countries today. Look at the masses routing for Trump, hating immigrants as if they are a threat. Look at his imagined voter fraud scandal, and how he really believes it. Look at his behavior, and most of his followers don’t care.
We are on the verge of eternal warfare in the Middle East and Afghanistan, literally spending billions of dollars monthly, money that can otherwise be used to improve the quality of life here in the U.S. Compare that to the party slogan, WAR IS PEACE!
We have soft, euphemistic words for weapons (peacekeepers) and misdeeds (collateral damage) and Trump is in conflict with the media on news (Fake News; Alternative Facts).
There are cameras watching certain places in cities (and this is especially true in London, England and Glasgow, Scotland). The intention here is good, protecting our citizens from criminals, but in a way, we are sacrificing our privacy for security.
Computers, from ATMs to credit card devices in stores can literally track your every move, 24 hours a day. (Orwell did not foresee the computer, though.)
We also support governments that torture their citizens, and there is a chance that we are doing it here in the U.S.
In this review, I have briefly summarized the plot of the book, and pointed out the parallels of this book in today’s society. This may not literally become a reality, word for word, by all the settings in this book are with us today. The book itself is bleak. It freezes a point in time (the 1950s or early 1960s, I think) and the classes in this society are permanent, never to change, never to improve, always a shortage of everything to support eternal war, with the use of terror, torture, and brainwashing for everyone to remain in their place, forever.
The bright spot in our own society, not the book, is that we all know what is happening, and steps are being taken to prevent this from becoming (too much of) a reality. It can be reversed, but we don’t have much time.
If you haven’t read this book, READ IT! If you’ve already read it, READ IT AGAIN! You will get a clearer view on what this book is trying to tell you.
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