Had to write this as an assignment, thought I'd put it up here.
1984 was an excellent book, while being an unpleasant reminder of what today could easily become. The dialogue was interesting, and Orwell's characters were developed.
The ideas were imaginative, not only the message but the various tools used to carry that message out. The Room 101 scene, was the perfect touch to complete the ending, in which Winston does not even feel despair anymore, only love for Big Brother, the symbolic totalitarian dictator.
According to a September 6 editorial this year from the New York Times, George Orwell himself was watched by England’s Special Branch for most of his life. Orwell’s file was recently released from Britain’s National Archives. “According to one sergeant, Orwell’s habit of dressing ‘in Bohemian fashion,’ revealed that the writer was a Communist, a conclusion that will seem strange to anyone who has read ‘Animal Farm.’ Orwell’s file seems to have been rather gently vetted by Britain’s spy agency, MI5, which perhaps understood that a casual dresser is not inevitably an enemy of the state.” (Quotation a direct quote from article) And thus, ironically, but very predictably, Orwell himself was under Orwellian circumstances.
Winston Smith himself was the perfect person to be the main character; he was in a place of slight power but insecurity, he had reasons to dislike Big Brother, and every day, he goes to the Ministry of Truth, where he revises documents from years ago, injecting obvious lies into them, showing him what the Party really does: change the past to suit them.
The only bad thing about this book, I feel, is the lengthy chapters of Goldstein’s book, which took up about an entire tenth or more of the book.
The important twist, which I overlooked as merely interesting at first, rather than vital, was when Parsons, the completely brainwashed, Big Brother loving man, is found to have spoken out against Big Brother in his sleep.
“‘Down with Big Brother!’ Yes, I said that! Said it over and over again, it seems.”
It shows that, even though he says “Between you and me, old man, I’m glad they got me before it went any further,” there may be sub-conscious hatred towards Big Brother in many people, even someone like Parsons, which would seem to show that even though the last four words of this gripping novel would seem to show that the last man left in the world “died” in the end (and then he really did die, though this is not in the actual book), perhaps people such as Parsons, who act and even believe they are complete adorers of Big Brother, may actually be the Party’s worst enemy.
In either case, this was a very good book, and I was disappointed when it was over. I look forward to reading his other books and works of literature.
