Book: 1984 by George Orwell

“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” - 1984, George Orwell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been hearing great reviews about this book, 1984 is a notable classic, first published in 1949. One of the remarkable things I read about this book, that it was a prediction came real in these current time. I didn’t quite understand how come until I read the book.

I was fascinated in the beginning, everything Orwell wrote about the fictional world was a accurate reflection of this world. The fictional world has three major countries that are in war with each other; Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia.

Oceania lives under a strong dictatorship that governs not only the country but also the people minds. People of Oceania are incredibly brain-washed and they follow Big Brother, the counterpart of president, blindly except of Winston. He has his own thoughts and does not accept everything the country is saying.

Winston Smith is the main character of the story, Smith is an average middle-aged man who is from Oceania where the story happens. He works in the Ministry of Truth in the Records Department, and basically rewrites history according to Oceania’s requirement.  Whenever something happens in the world that conflicts with Big Brother’s statements, The Record Departments are responsible to change the facts in old newspapers so no one can find a trailing clue against Big Brother. There are 3 other main ministries; Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Plenty and Ministry of Love, and ironically, each ministry’s function is quite the opposite of its name! The book shows Winston struggles in a world of dictatorship and contradictions and between truth and illusions. It was true what have they been saying the book is a prediction; the oppression, the censorship and dictatorship vs revolution, it’s all happening now.

I was fascinated, too with two particular terms in the book; Doublethink and Newspeak. These two terms are major strategies that Oceania is taking in order to control the people. Doublethink according to Dictionary.com is “the acceptance of two contradictory ideas or beliefs at the same time.” And Newspeak is “an official or semiofficial style of writing or saying one thing in the guise of its opposite, especially in order to serve a political or ideological cause while pretending to be objective.”

“Don't you see the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the language of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible because there will be no words in which to express it” - 1984, George Orwell.

These words are actually coined by George Orwell. Other words that was made up by him are Toughtcrime, Facecrime, Ownlife, Uperson. People in Oceania are guilty if they had any thoughts that are against the government “Thoughtcrime,” and if they show a disapproving facial expression “Facecrime.” People are not allowed to have spend sometime alone and have some solitude, it is considered as “Ownlife.” And all these are illegal which leads whoever commit them to “Unperson,” to vaporize and disappear from the face of the earth.

I enjoyed reading the book, I think it’s a must-read although I gave it 3 stars out of 5 only because it was extremely depressing and hard to read sometimes. Maybe it’s because of the material and the concept the book holds, I personally considered it a rough read. The book starts with a fast-pace but unfortunately, it falls in a dull state in the middle and drags on throughout the end. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I think we all should be exposed into these kinds of concepts to realize what happens around the world. 1984 has a great influence on the world, it’s from where the concept of Big Brother started.

“Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.” 1984, George Orwell.