Nineteen Eighty-Four
George Orwell’s modern classic, Nineteen Eighty-Four, is something of a masterpiece, letting the reader enter the world Orwell imagined would exist thirty year after World War II. It’s an intricate story with Winston Smith as the main character. Living in Oceania and working for the Ministry of Truth, he’s an outer Party member in charge with rewriting history to better suit the Party and their leader, Big Brother. But Winston doesn’t believe in the society he lives in – he thinks there’s a better way to live than to be constantly watched, monitored and spied on by the Thought Police and always having the fear of being vaporized hanging over one’s head. Slowly Winston starts turning against the Party and we get to follow his journey in search for a better world to live in as well as the truth.
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a terrifying novel centered around the war Oceania constantly is in and the way its citizens lives. Everything is corrupted and the government does little else but lie. Slowly the people get their humanity stripped from the in search for what the Party wants most. Thoughtless, obeying slaves. Winston, along with the Brotherhood, tries to stand up and fight, but it isn’t a simple task. Knowing full well that he will be caught and killed, Winston still does what he can for the future generation to have a chance at living a better life than he did.
I think this is a genius story, extremely well-crafted and thought through. The way Orwell play with the language, turning English into Newspeak, a way for the Party to control how the people think by limiting their words, is brilliant. I also love how the names of the ministries are exact opposites to what they really do. For example, the Ministry of Truth concerns themselves with rewriting history and making up lies and the Ministry of Peace deals with everything that has to do with the war. I think it’s a fantastic concept, really interesting and inspired. It’s a book that covers very serious topics but it doesn’t feel too heavy. It is scary how Winton’s society is built but it also teaches the reader important lessons and raises a lot of questions. I know I will come back to this novel in the future and I think that this is a book you definitely should check out if you haven’t already.
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a terrifying novel centered around the war Oceania constantly is in and the way its citizens lives. Everything is corrupted and the government does little else but lie. Slowly the people get their humanity stripped from the in search for what the Party wants most. Thoughtless, obeying slaves. Winston, along with the Brotherhood, tries to stand up and fight, but it isn’t a simple task. Knowing full well that he will be caught and killed, Winston still does what he can for the future generation to have a chance at living a better life than he did.
I think this is a genius story, extremely well-crafted and thought through. The way Orwell play with the language, turning English into Newspeak, a way for the Party to control how the people think by limiting their words, is brilliant. I also love how the names of the ministries are exact opposites to what they really do. For example, the Ministry of Truth concerns themselves with rewriting history and making up lies and the Ministry of Peace deals with everything that has to do with the war. I think it’s a fantastic concept, really interesting and inspired. It’s a book that covers very serious topics but it doesn’t feel too heavy. It is scary how Winton’s society is built but it also teaches the reader important lessons and raises a lot of questions. I know I will come back to this novel in the future and I think that this is a book you definitely should check out if you haven’t already.