Ignorance is strength: 1984 book review

 July 2019

This month I read the alluring and classic novel '1984' by George Orwell, famous for its dystopian representation of the future. I was initially uneasy about tackling the legendary story as it's known for being a difficult read, but I found myself thoroughly enjoying Orwell’s dystopian world and learning about how the story reflects our past and possible future. The fictional world of ‘1984’ is centred around the protagonist Winston Smith, a 39-year-old party member that works in 'The Ministry of Truth'. Winston hates the party 'Ingsoc' that governs Oceania, one of the 3 states that the world was split into in the 1950s after a nuclear war. The party leads a totalitarian government that controls all aspects of its citizens' lives, their freedom of speech, their actions, their relationships and even their thoughts. From the beginning of the novel, there are some similarities to the societies that were common during World War Two; oppressed, heavily controlled and poverty-stricken. Orwell’s exploration made me question if the World Wars came to a different end, would the prosperous modernisation of the 1980's never have happened? would our parents have lived similar lives to their grandparents? would we be as privileged as we are today? The book was written in 1949 and is said to be written in reaction to the governments that formed after the Second World War (most notably the tension between governments before The Cold War). In my opinion, the book embodies the struggles and both physical and mental corrosion of the oppressed individuals during and after both World Wars. The novel demonstrates to the reader how politics can wear an individual down in ways that horrifically resemble the unspoken parts of our modern society. To truly understand the story and sympathise with the extreme struggles of the characters, I felt that it was important to undertake some research after reading. The themes in the novel are interesting to uncover as they are so intricately thought out by Orwell. For example, the party's psychological and physical manipulation causes the members to be in a constant state of exhaustion which makes them less likely to rebel or question what the party tells them is true. Another interesting part of the novel is Orwell's use of language, which is controlled and constantly diminished to limit expression and make it impossible to conceive disobedient thoughts as there are no words to conceive them with; this is named 'Newspeak'. As extreme as these ideas may seem, they aren't completely different from what has been seen in modern society, such as the 'Yodok concentration camp' in North Korea that was used to segregate enemies of the state and punish them for political crimes through hard labour. '1984' has opened my eyes to the power of politics and how small changes in government could make it possible for this life to be a reality for us all. I believe that it is important to read this book in our current political climate as it has influenced the way that I view my freedom as a British citizen and the lives of those who aren't as fortunate as me. Ignorance is strength, so we must educate ourselves to not let those with power ruin innocent lives.