The Orwellian prophecy

“The best books… are those that tell you what you know already.”
― George Orwell

Englishman Eric Arthur Blair was the man behind the famous and beloved writer George Orwell. Even though he died early, at the age of 46, he managed to write two widely known books. 1984 and the Animal Farm. The dystopic elements of the former and the impressing allegory of the later shocked the readers and his works remain timeless…and prophetic! Many scholars have studied his works, and it is truly amazing how many aspects of our modern lives are described in the novels of a man who died in the early 50s, especially in his novel 1984. After reading both books in early 2020, I couldn’t help but feel disturbed by the fact that indeed, George Orwell was way ahead of his time.

His most famous novel, 1984, was written in 1949. In a dystopic environment ruled by a totalitarian surveillance system, ‘The Big Brother’, Winston Smith is a bureaucrat who works for the party. The nation of Oceania, where he lives, is at constant war with Eastasia -or Eurasia, judging by what the party promotes-. There is thought control and close surveillance systems, the ‘telescreens’, which are like TVs that never shut down, with the only difference that the party is watching everyone through these screens. Through them, propaganda and fake news are transmitted daily. And then, there is control over the past, present and future.

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
― George Orwell, 1984

What is meant by the quote above, is that the party can alter events of the past and present, to fit their purposes. News can be altered, people often vanish out of thin airand the language shifts as time passes, which leads to many words being deleted because they are a threat to the totalitarian political system. And all that, with full acceptance from most people…or maybe not. The legend of a force of opposition soon gets Winston in trouble. I will not spoil the novel further, I just wanted you to see what I am talking about.

As you see, it is interesting to think about how similar things are right now, over 70 years after George Orwell published his work. Surveillance systems and a close monitoring of the population is a fact, along with the wide spread of propaganda and fake news. There is also the evident rising of right-wing political parties and totalitarian ideologies in our own country and abroad. A last thing I would like to add is that, just like Oceania is at constant war with Asian nations, there are again similar incidents linked with reality, like the ongoing war at Syria or Afghanistan.

So, was he a prophet? It would be so interesting to find out that he was, but I believe that he had an extraordinary intuition and his eye was in the future. He was a man who had the ability to judge the society of his era and was able to see where it could be led to. What further inspired him was his hatred towards totalitarian systems.

Moving on to another work from George Orwell, the Animal Farm. In a small British farm, a revolution against humans takes place with the leading figures being two charismatic pigs -be free to interpret that metaphorically and literally-. The leaders promise freedom, a better life and much more food to the animals of the farm among other things. Their promises of course are soon broken in the name of power, control, and money.

The diachronic elements of this novel and the strong allegory between the animals and certain figures from our everyday lives are masterfully written. Orwell has managed to create a successful replica of the contemporary society and he brutally reminds us of how corrupt the face of power is, how ideologies are forgotten when it comes to personal profit and how exploitation of every kind is unstoppable…

 

 

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Γέννημα θρέμμα Στερεάς Ελλάδας και φοιτήτρια της Αγγλικής φιλολογίας. Pop culture expert (στο περίπου) και cinematic nerd με κρυφό όνειρο να ασχοληθώ με την κριτική κινηματογράφου. Θα με βρείτε συνήθως με ακουστικά στα αυτιά να ακούω μουσική ή να χαζεύω σκονισμενες βιβλιοθήκες, εκτός αν ειμαι σε road trip κοντα στη φύση (θα κοιτάω τα δέντρα σαν τον Tolkien). Πολύ ήρεμη βέβαια καυστική, old soul και γεμάτη περιέργεια για τη ζωή ολίγον τι έντονη και ξεροκέφαλη, με την ελπίδα ότι τα άρθρα μου θα σας κρατήσουν καλή συντροφιά!

Σχετικά θέματα: 1984 // Animal Farm // book // George Orwell // prophecy

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