Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) by George Orwell: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.

 

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.