Thinking Activity: 1984 by George Orwell

                          Introduction

Eric Arthur Blair, known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English essayist, journalist and critic. His work is characterized by lucid prose, biting social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism.

  

A Novel, often referred to as 1984, is a dystopian social science fiction novel by the English novelist George Orwell (the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair). It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final book completed in his lifetime. Thematically, Nineteen Eighty-Four centers on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of persons and behaviours within society. Orwell, himself a democratic socialist, modelled the authoritarian government in the novel after Stalinist Russia. More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within politics and the ways in which they are manipulated.

1) What is dystopian fiction? Is '1984' dystopian fiction?

    In his dystopian science fiction, the citizens of Oceania are under complete control of the government. This dissertation asserts that Orwell’s characteristics of a totalitarian state such as surveillance, perpetual war and control over language and the media arepresent in modern democracies. If Orwell in his novel established the notion of surveillance state, then modern democracies are not trailing far behind. With Snowden’s revelations of extensive government surveillance programmes there is an eerie similarity between Orwell’s Big Brother and modern democratic governments. Similarly the perpetuity of war in Nineteen Eighty-Four can be identified in prolonged modern conflicts such as The War on Drugs, the Cold War and The War on Terror. The linguistic devices used in political language of Oceania to deceive its population resemble modern political phrases such as enhanced interrogation techniques, limited military operations, technical barriers etc. On the other hand, the fear of state controlled media is not a concern in modern democratic countries. However, as the analysis reveals, the modern media are not free from corporate monopoly and market forces.

2) What according to you in the central theme of this novel?

*Totalitarianism: Total Control, Pure Power*

The Party – the controller of the super state  “seeks power entirely for its own sake.” As an official admits: “We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power.”

*Propaganda Machines*

A well-organized and effective propaganda machine goes a long way in ensuring total control of the Party over the super state and its residents. The regulation and dissemination of information involves “tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your choosing.”

*The Thing Called Love*

The totalitarian knows that to rule people he needs to quell all ways of achieving happiness and fulfilment. Therefore, love and sex, two of the most enriching human experiences, are killed and depersonalized.

*Liberty and Censorship*

The Ministry of Truth works tirelessly and meticulously to modify public archives and rewrite history. As a result, “the past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth.”

*Language: Doublethink and Newspeak*

The residents of the super state are forced to communicate in Newspeak – the government’s invented language. It plays a pertinent role in the Party’s control over the masses.

*Technology: All-seeing Telescreens and a Watchful Eye*

The Party needs and develops top-notch technology to exercise ruthless control over the residents. Without telescreens, the Thought Police would fail in its objective of surveillance. And, of course, overseeing all of this is Big Brother.

3) What do you understand by the term 'Orwellian'?

words have the power to shape thought. Language is the currency of politics, forming the basis of society from the most common, Everyday interactions to the highest ideals. Orwell urged us to protect our language because ultimately our ability to think and communicate clearly is what stands between us and a world where war is peace and freedom is slavery.
The Next time you here someone use of the word Orwellian, pay close attention. If they are talking about the deceptive and manipulative use of language, they are on the right track. if they talking about mass surveillance and intrusive government, They are describing something authoritarian but not necessarily Orwellian. And if they use it as an all purpose word for any ideas they dislike, It's possible their statements are more Orwellian than whatever it is they're criticizing.

                                      Thanks 😊