Review: 1984

1984 by George Orwell. You’ve probably heard of it.  You may know the line, “Big Brother is watching you.”  I did, but I only just read the novel having joined an online book club. This was our book for January.

Winston Smith is a member of the Party, but he hates Big Brother. He must be careful about saying or even thinking that thought, but he does hate Big Brother and wants it taken down.

The three slogans of the Party are:

War is peace.

Freedom is slavery.

Ignorance is strength.

Orwell is portraying a totalitarian government.

First, to control the collective mind and keep them from turning on Big Brother, the nation must be constantly at war --- keeping the people’s eyes and hatred on the enemy.

Second, the state gets to control meaning and reality. Whatever the state says is the truth is fact, and anyone who argues against it will be punished. Even, as the example is given, that 2 + 2 = 5.

Third, the state controls history and rewrites it and obliterates inconvenient “facts” previously believed to bolster the positive image of the state.

The good of the collective is greater than the good of the individual and the state is best suited to control what the good is and feed it to the people.

Winston Smith attempts to find ways around the strictures and watchful eye of the state. In the end, he faces horrific torture and becomes a faithful part of the collective.

This dystopian novel is a warning to what can happen – it has happened in various places at various times to different degrees. While there is a sense of being part of our country, state, and town, we are individuals with individual rights that must be protected. The government is not to be allowed to put its authoritarian boot on our neck for what it believes to be good – ignoring our freedoms.

Watch out.

[This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com].