1984

1984 -by George Orwell

Had I been alive and read George Orwell’s 1984 when it was released in 1948, I think I would have had many sleepless nights and many nightmares.   It’s a bit easier reading this horrific account of a fictitious totalitarian society 70 years later, as many of the events seem a tad more improbable, but in 1948, such predictions seemed much more feasible. This was an era where Stalin was still a blood-thirsty dictator in Russia, the United States had recently dropped two atomic bombs, and the stories of Hitler’s failed Thousand Year Reich still hadn’t yellowed in newspapers around the world.

Since this novel is regarded as a classic, I’m guessing more than 90% of the literate public is somewhat familiar with the plot. Yes, this was a novel about the ‘future’, but it was also a novel about the ‘present’ and the ‘past’. It succeeds on so many levels. Not only does George Orwell tell a frightening compelling story, but he spells out in immaculate detail how the world powers ended up in such dreadful conditions.

We meet Winston Smith, a member of the ‘Outer Party’ in the futurist country known as Oceania serving in the Socialist party known as Ingsoc. This is a world controlled by the 2% known as the ‘Inner Party’. Everything is controlled by the Inner Party and human beings have lost all remnants of their humanity. Diversion, opinions, and questioning are not permitted. People are watched, controlled, manipulated, and ‘vaporized’ for anything that seems a threat. Everywhere one goes, there are posters and television screens of “Big Brother” watching your every move.  Not only are these televisions constantly bombarding the masses with propaganda, but they also have the ability, supposedly, to watch and hear everything that you do as well (we must remember that ‘television’ as we now know it was still quite a novelty in 1949 when this book was penned).

The first part of this novel is mostly introspective. We see Smith’s bleak life and know his thoughts, but his interactions with others is rare. It’s dangerous to interact too much. Even if one doesn’t accidentally say the wrong thing, one’s facial expressions can be equally as damaging. After all, Big Brother is watching. Is Winston alone in his thoughts? Surely not. Despite the various “mind control” regular activities that the masses are subjected to (such as something called ‘Hate Week’), Winston can’t help but wonder ‘what if’?  Yes, he knows such thoughts are incredibly dangerous, but at some point, your inner soul stops caring.

The second part of the book takes a rather sharp turn, and 1984 becomes less of a story and more of a lecture. Winston uncovers a manifesto by a highly known traitor named Goldstein. As Winston reads this discovery, Orwell includes large portions of the piece of work verbatim for his readers.  This is a bit jarring since it’s quite long and meticulous, but it’s also rather brilliant in that it spells out how the Inner Party works and how it manages to succeed in tearing down the masses and keep them at ground level.  This part of the book took some serious writing and creativity. Although it does wear the reader down, one can’t help but be impressed that the author made such an effort.  I’m glad that this book had not been written in the 1930s.  Had a Hitler or a Stalin gotten hold of this book, it’s scary to think what would have happened had they taken copious notes. The discoveries in this work are fascinating and frightening at the same time.

Example: We learn that the Inner Party controls and alters history.  What makes this fact so unique is that the masses know this. They know, for example, that the chocolate ration is being reduced, but when the blaring news from the television screen announces to the population the opposite, the people shout, cheer, and rejoice.  I guess there’s no point in them doing otherwise.  If one is being lied to and then points out the contradiction, they will soon disappear forever, so it’s best to shape one’s thinking and eliminate independent thought.

Another example: Throughout the story, Oceania is at war with a rival continent. We read about demolished neighborhoods and hear bombers from above performing massive air raids.  We read about who Oceania is at war with, but we’re never told why. Later it’s revealed that the goal of war is not to win, but to keep the masses in a constant state of despair. When a country is at war, the population is often short of basic necessities and living in squalor. If the particular war never ends, the destitution never ends.  This is good for the minority in control. Starving destitute people are much less likely to rebel and revolt.

The last part of the story goes back to ‘story’ mode, but I won’t reveal the details here. As I mentioned, most are somewhat familiar with the plot.  Although I don’t like to include spoilers in my reviews, I think I can safely say that this book doesn’t have a rosy ending. I will also point out the last third of the novel is the portion that I found the least satisfying. It just seemed to drag a bit. Whereas the second part of the book talks about the “why” things are the way they are, the last part emphasizes the “how”.  It’s not pretty.

As a postscript to this review, I also want to point out that I read this book at 52 years of age.  Like many, I was required to read this book back in high school when I was 17. Like every other 17-year-old in my class, I didn’t actually read the book. We all read the Cliffs Notes and then tried to fake our way through the exam.  Although I loved this book at my present age, I can’t honestly say that I regret my decision 35 years ago.  I honestly think this book is much too difficult for the average teenager to assimilate. This is true about a lot of things in the education system. Sometimes I’m quite perplexed as to how decisions are made as to what young people are to learn. It’s not that the subject matter in this novel is too complex nor dark, but the writing style is simply too difficult.  Making a 17-year-old read this book seems akin to trying to teach an 8-year-old advanced calculus.   What makes me sad is the fact that so much of today’s youth ‘hates reading’ because of what they were forced to endure in the classroom. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not trying to parallelize my experience with the book itself, I’m simply making a random observation.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you read this book at the age that I did and you don’t have fond memories, I would advise you to try again if you’ve aged a couple of decades. I’m quite confident you would enjoy this book. Unless, of course, you don’t like stories that are incredibly depressing.