Book Review - Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) By George Orwell
Written by: Prithvi Dev Singh, 2nd year student in Delhi University, India
1984
is a social science fiction novel by English novelist George Orwell. It was
published on 8th June 1949 as Orwell’s 9th and final book.
Thematically,
the book revolves around a totalitarian dystopian social system and mass
surveillance. But there is a lot more to it, the book focuses strongly on
freedom of thought and freedom of expression. Secondary points of focus are sex
and speech, etymology i.e. how they propagate the idea of free will and how
authoritarian regimes deal with such blasphemies (by their standards of
course).
Another
main focal point is history, past and how it is bent rather completely
destroyed and written a new so that it fits their centralized and dictatorial
narrative.
"Who
controls the past, controls the future
Who
controls the present, controls the past."
Protagonist
Winston Smith lives in Oceania which is controlled by 'the party' which is
controlled by a character named 'big brother'. As of late, our guy Winston has
been having thoughts, it doesn't matter what kind of thoughts, he has just been
thinking a lot more than he should be. The story unfolds as newer characters
come into existence and Winston learns more and more about the world he lives
in.
Right
off the bat, the story comes across as confusing, but as you read more and
more, things start falling into place (pretty sure that's how reading works 😑) It is to be noted that the book was
written in 1949 in anticipation of the year 1984, and there have been some
massive assumptions made about what the future is going to be like, and
consequently the dialect might leave us (2021 people) rather perplexed.
1984
is a lengthy book and it tends to get tedious at points, reading through the
boring parts is like a job, you have to drag yourself through 20 30 pages of
Orwell jargon at regular intervals. But again, I think that one's on us as
readers, after all our attention spans have taken a massive blow from all the
15 second tiktoks and reels on the internet. I could have just shut the book
close and that would have been the end of it, but I didn't, for I really wanted
to know where things would go.
Character
development is a 10/10 astounding and there is a lot of scope here for
spoilers. I would like to quote the book here.
"Big
brother is watching you"
Which is what brings me to plot holes, of which there are a couple…
Something
about mass surveillance doesn't seem right (yeah no doy), it is understandable
that with the advancement in technology, it is now easier to scrutinize people,
but if one truly wanted to, he could escape the endless monitoring and scrutiny
(opinion).
Second
one in my opinion is the authors take on love and proletarians, the hidden
potential in them has been greatly undermined. History is a witness, the
oppressed have rebelled against the aristocrats and the noblemen, time and time
again, be it the Nazis, Russian communists or the British colonialists.
The
author says, "The masses never revolt of their own Accord, and they
never revolt merely because they are oppressed. Indeed, so long as they are not
permitted to have standards of comparison, they never even become aware that
they are oppressed."
For
everything I said there's a counter argument in the book and is debatable.
The
plot is like nothing I've ever known, and at no given point in time could I
predict what was going to happen next. Think of it like this, it was like any
other Nazi Germany documentary on Netflix but better, as in, in this case the
authoritarians and the dictators reigned over the vulnerable better than any
other regime to have ever existed in history.
A
fantastic novel through and through…Orwell displayed a beautifully orchestrated
prediction of the future which just might come true one day (let's all hope
not).
It
gives the reader a new outlook towards freedom and its importance. It's not
really that important for you to be in resonance with historical events, the
likes of world wars or the French revolution or such to understand what's
written in there, it's very much relevant even in the current scene.
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Book:
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Author:
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George Orwell |
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Published:
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8 June 1949, by Secker & Warburg as
Orwell's ninth and final book completed in his lifetime |
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Page count: |
328 |
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Genres: |
Utopian and dystopian fiction, Political
fiction, Social science fiction |
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