I don’t get why
I hadn’t read this before. After having received it for Christmas last year, I
thought I’d give it a try. The book was a delight.
Nineteen
Eighty-Four was written by George Orwell and published in 1949. It is set
in Great Britain, now known as Airstrip One, in the super state Oceania. The
state is controlled by the Party, led by “Big Brother”; the great leader who
may not even exist. This society is constantly monitored by the Party, where a
single sign of independent thinking is considered “thoughtcrime” and must be
punished. Whenever the Party claims something which is contradicted in any
article or historical work, the texts must be changed to fit with what is
currently being stated by the Party. In addition to doing this, the Party is
also determined to change the way the citizens speak, to entirely remove
individualism and any sense of justice or freedom. Controlling historical works
and the way people speak, the Party’s plan is to control people’s minds too; a
totalitarian society.
The main character of the novel is
Winston Smith. He is a member of the Outer Party and works on changing
newspapers and writing new newspaper articles. In the novel we see how Winston
tries to resist the Party and Big Brother, creating the plot of the book.
The novel is full of descriptions of
how the Party works, which is probably why it’s so scary to read. It seems as
if Orwell is justifying the realism of the scenario. A lot of the argumentation
makes sense, and we even see some traces of doublespeak
in euphemisms used today (saying “neutralize” instead of “kill”, etc.)
Seeing the realism of it is probably the scariest part of this book.
The language is smooth and simple.
Orwell’s simple use of language may be to show how much Winston’s range of
thought has narrowed down because of the Party. It may also have been to get
the message across to as many people as possible; the easier the language is, the
more people will understand.
The book was extremely exciting. It
didn’t feel like reading at all. I couldn’t wait to find out more about Winston
and his fate; whether he could find a way to destroy the Party. The novel is
intriguing and so original that you just have to keep going.
Image from the movie adaptation, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984). The person on the screen in the middle of the picture is Big Brother.
All in all I
thoroughly enjoyed Nineteen Eighty-Four,
and I give it 5/5.
- Charlie.
