Why did I choose this book?
I choose George Orwell’s book Nineteen Eighty-four, also published as 1984 because it is an incredibly good book that practically created and outlined the ‘dystopian novel’ genre. The illustrative dystopian novel stood out and had a deep impression on the readers. It warns against mass surveillance, totalitarianism and repressive regimentation of the people and mannerisms in a society. The novel’s title and most of its ideologies, like the Thought Police and Big Brother, are relatable and understandable. They result from modern and political abuses. The book evaluates the role of truth in politics, and techniques in which they are exploited.
About the author?
George Orwell, alias of Eric Arthur Blair was born in 1903, India. He was brought up in an impoverished snobbery atmosphere by a British father and a French mother. His intelligence won him scholarships to further his studies at Eton (1917-1921). After graduating, he served in the Indian Imperial police as an assistant superintendent. During his service, he observed how the British ruled the Burmese against their will. He was ashamed of his job; thus, he resigned in 1928. Orwell recounted his experiences and opinion of the imperial rule in his novel Burmese Days. He decided to live in the slums of Paris, where he laboured as a dishwasher in French restaurants and would join in the yearly flight to work in the Kentish hopfields. Orwell reorganized the encounters to create the fictional novel Down and Out in Paris and London that earned him some recognition. Orwell later wrote many more books after the first two. The most famous novels, written by the English novelists, were Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-four (1949). He died in 1950, while in England.
Interpretation
The novel is set in Oceania, one of the perpetually battling totalitarian states. The political party that governs Oceania is based on dictatorship and blind obedience to the leader, Big Brother. It has an established language, the Newspeak, which limits free thought and promotes the Party’s doctrines. The Party maintains controls the Thought Police and community surveillance. The main character, Winston Smith, is a minor agent of the Party, whose responsibility is to rewrite history in the Ministry of Truth, aligning it with the current political beliefs. However, Smith desires for truth and decency, which makes him disobey the government secretly. He indulges in an illicit affair with Julia, a lady that held similar opinions as him, but they do not know that they are being monitored. He also becomes interested in the Brotherhood. O’Brien, a spy of the Party who acts as a secret member of the Brotherhood, reported the two to the Party. Smith and Julia were sent to the Ministry of Love, where they were imprisoned, tortured, and reeducated. The novel depicts a society in which people are punished for having different beliefs, they are monitored every second of the day, and party ideologies are forced onto people. Smith symbolized the values of civilized people, and his defeat shows the vulnerability of such values.
Setting
The novel is set up in three perpetually warring totalitarian superstates. The core territories of Oceania are Britain, Ireland, Australasia, and Polynesia while the core territories of Eurasia are Russia and Europe. Eastasia was made up of Japan, Korea, and China. The superstates fight for control over a region lying between their borderland. The region formed an uneven quadrilateral with its corners at Darwin, North America, Tangier, and Brazzaville. The superstates would capture and use slave labour from India and the Middle East. The battle of the three powers took place between Eurasia and Eastasia, Mongolia and Central Asia.
Characters
The main characters in the novel are Winston Smith, Julia, and O’Brien. Smith is a protagonist man that is curious about life and is civilized, while Julia is Smith’s lover, who is an antagonist that rebels the Party’s doctrine publicly. O’Brien, a member of the Inner Party that acts as a member of The Brotherhood, to deceive, trap and capture Smith and Julia. The previous members of the Inner Party that Smith faintly recalls as some of the initial heads of the Revolution, Aaronson, Jones, and Rutherford, are secondary characters. They admitted to being part of insubordinate plots with foreign authorities, were physically tortured and then assassinated in the political eradications of the 1960s. Smith later saw a newspaper article that contradicted their confession but chose to ignore it. Ampleforth, an intellect who finds pleasure in his work, and adores poetry and language, is a secondary character. He was Smith’s colleague in the Records department but was imprisoned for forgetting to include the term “God” in a Kipling poem. Other secondary characters are Charrington and Katherine Smith. The former was an officer of the Thought police that acted as a compassionate artefact dealer amongst the unskilled labourers. In contrast, the latter was Smith’s emotionally indifferent wife that he married as a responsibility to the Party. Katharine and Smith separated because they could not conceive children, and Smith wishes that she was dead so that he could marry Julia. The Parson family, neighbours to Smith, are secondary characters. Tom Parson is an uneducated man that is extremely loyal to the Outer Party. He is socially enthusiastic and takes part in Party activities. Mrs Parson, on the other hand, is an unlucky woman that is intimidated by her children. The final secondary character is Syme, Smith’s colleague at the Ministry of Truth. He is intelligent, sees clearly, speaks plainly, and is passionate about his work and support for the Party. The unseen characters in the novel are Big Brother and Emmanuel Goldstein.
Development and interaction of characters
Character development requires conflict. Smith, the main character, is constantly in a conflict in almost every page of the novel. The Party is constantly monitoring him, and he has problems with his relationship with Katherine. Big brother gains leadership over the Party and starts controlling everything, ranging from the living conditions of the members of Oceania, to how much chocolate anyone is allowed to consume. The restrictions frustrated every person in Oceania. Smith participates in all the Party activities, yet he hates the Party and Big Brother. However, he cannot resist because he will risk being arrested. He hoped that this era of terror would come to an end someday. Other people felt the same way too. Smith also hated women, especially the young and pretty ones, because they were extremist members of the Party. But when he met Julia, he liked her because she did not behave like the other party members.
Message of author
In the novel 1984, Orwell addresses nationalism. The three types of nationalism that he touches on are positive, negative, and transferred. An instance of positive nationalism is the Oceanians’ perpetual affection for Big Brother. The concept of Celtic nationalism is characterized by the obsessive feeling of loyalty to an entity. An example of negative nationalism is the Oceanians’ infinite dislike for Emmanuel Goldstein. The obsessive hatred of an entity defines the ideology of Antisemitism. Transferred nationalism deflects emotions from one authority figure to another. An instance is when Oceania’s change their enemy, a speaker makes a change mid-sentence, and the crowd instantly passes on its bitterness to the new adversary. The influence of nationalism is evident in racial hatred, patriotism and class superiority, in the society.
Background of the book.
Orwell wrote the book on the Scottish Island of Jura between 1947 and 1948, even though he was severely ill with tuberculosis. He had thought of writing the book in 1940, during World War II, but he did not complete it until 1948 when the Cold War was beginning. Orwell’s writing was influenced by the anti-Fascist writing of the 1930s and 1940s. The initial title of the book was The Last Man in Europe, but he later changed it to Nineteen Eighty-Four. The latter was a more commercially viable choice for the title.
The events in Communist Russia influenced the plot and theme of 1984. Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin had a power struggle from 1922 (Lenin suffered a stroke) to 1928, a few years after his death. Stalin became more influential and invincible as he used the secret police to shut down all plans against his reign. Trotsky was obliged to abandon his responsibilities as Minister of War and was later banished from the Party, exiled from Russia, and finally assassinated. Stalin enjoyed supreme power in Russia from 1928 to World War II. He introduced collective agriculture, industrialization with forced labour, and the build-up of the authoritarian state combined with the abolition of all political opposition. The people were denied the freedom to select a job that interested them, and anyone that resisted was sent to labour camps. A few skilled workers supervised the vast majority of unskilled workers, widening the gap between the social classes. The effects of Stalin’s dictatorship were felt by Russian society.
Style of language, the idea behind this and effect on the reader
The language used is mostly English. Orwell also introduces new terms like “unperson,” “doublethink,” and “thoughtcrime”, that have become part of the English language. The purpose of using these terms was to custom the language to suit the society in which it is set up. The style of language gave a more comprehensive understanding of the text and made the words memorable. Today, the word “Orwellian” refers to any regimented and dehumanized community. And the common saying “Big Brother Is Watching You” has become identical to the concept of a totalitarian situation.
What do you like about the novel?
Nineteen Eighty-Four is an outstandingly powerful, thought-provoking, compelling, engaging portrait of an all too feasible near future. Parallels in history are clearly there to see – the National Socialism of Hitler, the Communism of Stalin to name but two – showing us the absolute feasibility of such a world. The way that Orwell writes of the manipulation and management of mass hysteria, the installation and perpetuation of xenophobia and the unquestioning and blind allegiance to the ‘Party’ has such a feeling of authenticity and is all done so effectively and unbelievably well. I cannot overemphasize George Orwell’s brilliance, nor the power that this novel increasingly has, though perhaps to say that 1984 by George Orwell is quite simply a work of modern literary genius will go some way in conveying how truly great a novel this really is. 1984 depicts a horrifying picture of a world that could so easily be – an intelligent image of and warning against the evils of totalitarianism and extreme authoritarianism of any kind. But it is so much more than that, along with providing us with such a great central story – a story not solely about power, corruption and lies, but also about love, truth and the human spirit, Nineteen Eighty-Four works on so many, many levels.
What do you not like?
I wouldn’t say I like the ending of the Novel. The prisoners are pressed into submission by exposure to their worst nightmares. In Smith’s nightmare, a cage full of rats is attached to his head, and he shouts at the tormentors that they do it to Julia. He says that he is unconcerned of what happens to her. He had betrayed Julia. He is released, and when they met, later on, they are disinterested in each other. All the hatred that Smith had for Big Brother fades away, and he begins liking him. It is such a sad ending.
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