George Orwell's last novel, 1984, was released in 1949. The world was still reeling from the effects of World War II and the Soviet Union was emerging as the next great threat to world security. That same year, the Western world watched as the Soviet Union exploded the first atomic bomb, sparking forty years of the Cold War. Supporters of capitalism and democracy quickly hailed the book as a warning about the dangers of totalitarian and Communist regimes.
Orwell himself was born in India in 1903, the son of a British official. His real name was Eric Blair. At the age of 2, he returned to England with his mother and older sister. The Blair family then put together money to send Orwell to an expensive private school for his early education.
A bright student, Orwell gained scholarships to the exclusive Wellington and Eton Colleges. Partly because of his middle-class background and his dissatisfaction with the school's strict policies over all aspects of the students' lives, Orwell shunned further studies at University. Instead, he enlisted as an officer with the Burmese Imperial Police.
Orwell embarked on a writing career in 1927, upon his return to England. His experiences in Burma, boarding school as well as working as a laborer in Paris and London gave him great familiarity and sympathy for the conditions of the working class, a fact that Winston Smith would echo in 1984. Working as a reporter covering the Spanish Civil War, Orwell chronicled many atrocities committed by Franco's fascist regime against working class people and the rest of its citizenry (Bloom 7-8).
When the novel was first published, the possibility of the dystopia seemed real. The Soviet Union and its satellite countries were beginning to close ranks. The atomic bomb made technology into a terrifying possibility. Even
It continues to warn of how the human psyche and history can be manipulated by authoritarian regimes to maintain control. Though the Soviet Union may no longer be a threat, 1984 continues to warn of the possibility of totalitarianism.
Summary and theme
1984 opens with a discordant note, "It is a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen" (5). Orwell's main character is a low-ranking party member named Winston Smith. Winston chafes against the Party's oppression and control over all aspects of his life. All over London, Oceania, posters of an omniscient leader named Big Brother ensures that "Big Brother is watching you." Even homes have telescreens, ensuring that all people are being watched all the time.
Winston, however, strives to assert his individuality in various ways. He keeps a diary and wonders about how he alters historical records for the Ministry of Truth, both of which make him guilty of thoughtcrime. He also wanders London's poor neighborhoods, envious of the proles who live in poverty but are free of Party scrutiny.
In this novel, Orwell paints totalitarianism as a mixture of drabness and horror. Unlike concentration camps, where the fear of death lurked in every corner, Oceania presented a corrosive mixture of rewritten history, monotony and the constant threat of surveillance. Thus, for Winston, the possibility of freedom in the slum areas was as sweet as breath of fresh air.
Winston meets Julia, a young girl equally disillusioned by life under the Party. They fall in love and Julia's optimism soon fills the fatalistic Winston with hope of a future free from Big Brother. Winston and Julia eventually try to join an underground group to overthrow…
