Dystopia (Nineteen Eighty-four - George Orwell)

Name: Frankingsteins

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Product:	Nineteen Eighty-four - George Orwell
Date:	21.04.04 (1619 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A classic novel with a genuine message, Believable characters with which to sympathise, Not overlong

Disadvantages: The book drags on at times, Not an uplifting experience

The oppressive and futuristic society of George Orwell?s Nineteen Eighty-Four is widely known, with the book becoming one of the most recognised novels of the twentieth century. Many aspects of the plot are similar in context to earlier Dystopian novels: Aldous Huxley dealt with similar notions of human oppression, albeit from a different angle, in the novel Brave New World, while the much lesser known novel We by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin, has been credited as the forerunner and inspiration for these later classics, cited by Ada Palmer as ?the first modern Dystopia, and the work on which all the rest are based.? All three novels share similar traits, however the differences in style and plot reflect each individual author?s personal fears and the message they are attempting to convey.


Orwell?s novel takes place in London on ?Airstrip One,? formerly Great Britain, in the empire of Oceania, one of the three empires of the world that constantly vary between war and peace with each other. Society has been divided into three classes, the privileged Inner Party, the less recognised Outer Party and the proles, uneducated labourers who form the majority of the population. Posters and television monitors constantly display the moustached face of ?Big Brother,? the figurehead of the government which, with its Thought Police and surveillance, can observe your every action.


A TOTALITARI AN SOCIETY


Government in Airstrip One is divided into four dubious departments; the Ministry of Peace, concerned with war; the Ministry of Truth, which falsifies old records to ensure the government has always been correct; the Ministry of Love, where criminals are tortured and laws
are passed; and the Ministry of Plenty, which rations food. The novel features an ambiguous conclusion as to whether the rebellious movement known as the ?Brotherhood? actually exists: although seldom discussed in Orwell?s novel, the oppressed working masses, the proles, are a group that would certainly benefit through carrying out their own revolution; Winston writes in his diary that, ?if there is hope ? it lies with the proles.?

The symbolic figurehead of the oppressing force is another theme common to all the novels, however neither Huxley?s Ford nor Zamyatin?s Benefactor have the same function as Orwell?s terrifying Big Brother, required by the government to accustom the citizens to living repressed lives through fear. The ultimate goal of the governing bodies in Dystopia novels is the creation and maintenance of stability, although this has been achieved through different means and for different reasons, relating to each author?s motive for writing their novels based on their personal experiences and fears. Orwell?s novel can be seen as a comparison to totalitarian Russia and Nazi Germany leading to forced slavery for a society, due to it being written shortly after the demise of the Nazi government when the full extent of their atrocities became known.


CHARACTER& #83; WITHOUT HOPE


The similarities between the Dystopian novels can be largely seen in the actions and presentation of the characters. The protagonists in all three, most notably Nineteen Eighty-Four, follow the cycle of curiosity, discovery, rebellion and destruction; ultimately there is no sense of hope or salvation.

Nineteen Eighty-Four is the story of Winston Smith, a man whose job concerns falsifying old records for the Ministry of Tr
uth. Winston feels the need to write his thoughts down in a diary, an illegal practice which will likely be observed despite Winston?s precautions, eventually being told of an dubious underground resistance movement called the Brotherhood by a woman called Julia. Winston begins meeting her in private for sexual liaisons, and is finally arrested and taken for rehabilitation and execution in the ironic ?Ministry of Love.?

Winston, like the protagonists in all three novels, is one of society?s more privileged males, not content with his lifestyle, whose rebellious feelings are eventually forced further through sex. The end of each novel features the destruction of the rebellious individual: Brave New World sees John committing suicide and Bernard exiled to Iceland; the end of We sees D-503 undergo reconditioning and becoming an emotionless drone; in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston is forced to share the ideals of the Party before being killed for his crimes.

We and Nineteen Eighty-Four feature female characters who are very similar in purpose; E-330 attempts to persuade D-503 to help her sabotage the Integral, causing him to fall in love with her before they are found out and permanently separated. In the latter novel, Julia is also a member of an underground rebellion movement who finds she has fallen in love with Winston but who is unable to perform any terrorist acts before they are permanently separated.


STYLE & LANGUAGE


The major difference between the three texts is the style in which they are written. Brave New World takes an objective and distanced view of the events, using scientific terms to explain concepts. We is written in the form of a journal, incorporating a large amount of mathematical calculation and dialogu
e in the early stages before D-503?s progression. Nineteen Eighty-Four manages to tell the most personal story with its explorations of Winston?s thoughts and feelings.

An interesting feature of the Dystopian novels is their reference to slogans and terms which are commonplace in the horrific future. Brave New World?s simplistic slogans are taught to children in their sleep from an early age, while Nineteen Eighty-Four?s unique ?newspeak? terminology allows for an exploration of futuristic slang terms, explained as an appendix to the book and easily believable.

Unlike the distanced viewpoint of the other novels, Orwell?s narrative is centred on the world as Winston experiences it, and this personal approach encourages more sympathy for each character?s plight from the reader. Nineteen Eighty-Four is written from the perspective of their respective protagonists, making these far more intimate accounts and offering a personalised view of the societies and governments with which they are concerned.


CONCLUSIO& #78;


Nineteen Eight-Four is the most recognised and acclaimed novel to portray a nightmarish vision of the future, but is by no means the only one. Fans of one novel will likely enjoy, and be inspired by, the alternative works as they fit together well: Brave New World, We and Nineteen Eighty-Four portray alternative Dystopian futures at different stages; Orwell?s oppressive society is still in its development with a population in the process of conversion; Huxley?s society exists centuries afterwards, at a time where the government has firmly established its perfect control over the population; Zamyatin?s novel exists in a distant fantasy time when the naturally evolved survivors of a devastating war intend to spread their ?idyllic? existence to
other stars.

Not a book for the faint-hearted, this is ultimately a little depressing but acts as a well-known warning of how society must stay on the right track.

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