This post was a long time in coming as things have gotten pretty busy for me. I finished 1984 awhile ago now, but it is definitely a book that will stay with me. The farsighted nature of what George Orwell wrote was astounding. Even if the particular technology that he envisioned was incorrect, the gist of what he was getting at did. Winston basically works a cubical job for the ministry of truth. The tubes that bring papers to his desk for him to work on are computers before computers were ever conceived. The interactive Telescreens are becoming increasingly possible and nothing is more important in today's society than information. The growth of social media through the internet and the ability for everyone to access information that they would previously never have had, has given us the impression that we see things more clearly than ever. Yet as 1984 aptly illustrates, history is just an agreed upon viewpoint of past events and just because the majority agrees with it does not mean that version of events is correct.
Winston's struggle to navigate in a society where everyone could potentially feel the same way that he does about what is going on but is so tightly controlled that anything other than complete obedience is swiftly crushed has to resonate with Americans in a post 9-11, patriot act society. More than ever we have the means and the desire to monitor and control the general public's reaction to the decisions made by those in power. The patriot act is a right wing example, but Barack Obama's presidential campaign utilized social media and our increased ability to have direct contact with individuals like never before to win the '08 election. There is a lot of promise and good in the information technology revolution that has been taking place but 1984 also illustrates the dangers that come with that. Information is freer than ever but we are still getting it through the lens of whatever our source is and we are less wary of the role that filter plays on the veracity of that information. Orwell published the book in 1949, so the setting was a 35 years in the future. We are now 25 years beyond the futuristic setting of the novel and far from being obsolete, it has gained more relevance.
Beyond the relevance to our present day society, it is very interesting when it is looked at in the context of its own time. It was written not too long after the end of WWII during the beginning of what became the Cold War. A nuclear bomb had been dropped and no one wanted to see WWIII even as battle lines were being drawn in Germany and other parts of the world. So it is interesting to see the stalemate that Orwell saw taking place. Also the difference between the psyche of Winston and Julia is facinating. Winston has greater ideals of what society should be based on what he remembered experiencing as a child. Julia, who has only known a Big Brother dominated society, seems to have none of Winston's high mindedness and her rebellion is characterized by the brutality of the society she was raised in. Winston has a hard time not letting his distaste show while Julia strives to be the ideal citizen on the surface to cover up her illicit rebellion. Julia has essentially mastered the core of what Big Brother is about. She engages in double think much more easily than Winston can. She can throw herself into the activities mandated by the society while fundamentally disagreeing with them. It was an interesting psychological experiment to create the two characters from two very different experiences. When you add O'brien to the mix, it becomes even more itneresting.
I loved this book and it definitely takes its place as one of my favorite. I would like to write some more about the ending but I would hate to spoil it for anyone that reads this before they read the book.
