1984

In this day and age of unhinged politicians, dictators, and world-wide pandemics, who hasn't heard of George Orwell's science fiction classic Nineteen Eighty-Four? This novel has been both loved and reviled ever since its post-war publication in 1949. Written as a warning against totalitarianism on the back of the horrors of WWII and the Cold War, Orwell explores the dark sides of complete government control and the dangers of mindlessly following orders and the authorities.

Book content warnings: violence, physical and psychological torture, gaslighting, sexually explicit scenes.

Summary
In the totalitarian state of Oceania, citizens are brainwashed into following the Party and its all-seeing leader, Big Brother. The citizens are constantly monitored by an entity who works for Big Brother, known as the Thought Police, and are often taken away by the government when found ‘guilty' of going against society, never to be seen again. One such divergent thinkers is Winston Smith, who slowly starts to rebel against the system by joining other dissenters called the Brotherhood. However, Winston is eventually caught by a government spy for having committed thought-crime, and is subsequently imprisoned and tortured until his spirit is broken. He then returns to being a brainwashed, obedient citizen who follows Big Brother.

Winston represents a hope for freedom and free thought in a society where everything is highly controlled by an overseeing group. His tragic end of returning to his original way of thinking shows how these groups can exert their power and control over ordinary citizens by using their fears as weapons against them. The Party's slogan in itself showcases how control is achieved: the ignorance of the people is the evildoers' source of strength. The less that people are educated and aware of what the governing body is up to, the less they will want to rebel and overthrow the system and, by breaking individuals who have a fighting spirit, like Winston, control is achieved over the masses. The strength and power of the leaders lies in making an example out of one or two ‘antis' and showing to the rest of the population that disobedience and resistance are very dangerous things.

This theme of extreme surveillance and scrutiny was reprised by the philosopher Michel Foucault in his book Discipline and Punish (1975) in which he established that there is a self-governance at play when one knows (or thinks) that one is being watched. Foucault adapted Orwell's idea and applied it to the prison system, but the idea of self-surveillance and self-punishment is something that can be seen outside of the prison cell. It is an action that is performed by all humans, regardless of the level of external surveillance and its associated threat (for example, a child may behave better if they know that their mother is potentially watching).

Why Was It Banned?
Ironically, Nineteen Eighty-Four was banned in the United States for being “pro-communist,” no doubt because of its representation of the disdain of authority and the novel's conclusion of Winston returning to blind obedience. [1] In Poland, the novel was made illegal from 1976-1989 because it was too political. [2]

It is no surprise that such a book would be unpopular with certain governments. However, to think that Orwell's novel is pro-communist is to miss its entire point: the dangers of having communist and totalitarian regimes as governing powers are highlighted through the fact that Winston is re-indoctrinated into believing in these powers. The novel clearly warns its readers through this allegory to not repeat the same mistakes of the past, most notably the mistakes that led to and supported WWII.

Why Should You Read It?
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a cautionary tale about giving away too many freedoms and too much power to a governing body. Its ideas are about resistance and the importance of free will and freedom of thought. The novel's unique language of “newspeak,” “thought-crime,” “doublethink,” and “2+2=5” all reveal a truth about linguistic and political control of information. This probably sounds familiar to readers of this novel in the 21st century, in an age where notions of “fake news” and “alternative facts” have infiltrated society and are used to push forward certain political agendas.

Orwell's novel has been called prophetic because of the similarity between its themes and recent developments around the world, but in fact, it is not prophetic as much as it is saying “what happened during WWII and the Soviet era can happen again, and it will reoccur if we as a society are not more careful with how we distribute power.”

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Sources:

[1]. www.thefileroom.org
[2]. “1984.” Beacon for Freedom of Expression.