Geroge Orwell's 1984
This being my first time reading through this book, I must say that I was very pleased with the way it was written, and the different ways it made me think. To start with Orwell does a nice job in setting the tone for the book, nothing overly rambunctious and yet extremely powerful in it's warnings of the future of mankind. The dim society that Orwell depicts in 1984 (or around that time) is a stern warning of the direction he sees humanity headed when he wrote this book (1948). Ironically the situations which he describes in the book have just as much, if not more, effect in our present day than it did in 1984.
My favorite quote from the book is easily the statement 'It was not the man's brain that was speaking; it was his larynx' (p.48). It sums up the direction of society if left to it's own meddlings, and in the book this phrase descibes very accurately the ideal person as far as the Party was concerned. I found it interesting that Orwell used a figure and form of government which was already in effect, and only made small changes to it's basic principles so as to keep it in line with the understood Communism of the real world. The use of comrade was perhaps a little much for me in this comparison, as the type of government described along with the unifying Party notion left the correlation to communism very clear.
I also found it interesting that Orwell was able to depict a society where everyone is in a constan habit of hiding any emotional responses. This was easy for me personally to relate to my experiences of being slightly below the hierarchial society that is seen so often in Public High Schools. Having seen the movie 'Equlibrium' previously i could not help but think of the parallels of the two societies depicted, and the way the author ties in the rebellious nature of the main character to simply be allowed to express feeling. The key in this analysis is the importance of feeling, hope, and love in keeping our sanity as human beings. Yes perhaps we could function in an environment sought to conceal these things, but it would be akin to being a prisoner in one's own body. I found it interesting that Orwell used sex as the initial rebellious release and found disturbing (as of course intended) the way copulation was treated within the Party members.
This book was definitely a wonderful read, and it seems to me that it would give light to new situations each time it is read, for every reader. Definitely agree with it's status as a classic, and of course the futuristic (for its time) depiction of the world gives rise to it's fame in the Science Fiction community.
My favorite quote from the book is easily the statement 'It was not the man's brain that was speaking; it was his larynx' (p.48). It sums up the direction of society if left to it's own meddlings, and in the book this phrase descibes very accurately the ideal person as far as the Party was concerned. I found it interesting that Orwell used a figure and form of government which was already in effect, and only made small changes to it's basic principles so as to keep it in line with the understood Communism of the real world. The use of comrade was perhaps a little much for me in this comparison, as the type of government described along with the unifying Party notion left the correlation to communism very clear.
I also found it interesting that Orwell was able to depict a society where everyone is in a constan habit of hiding any emotional responses. This was easy for me personally to relate to my experiences of being slightly below the hierarchial society that is seen so often in Public High Schools. Having seen the movie 'Equlibrium' previously i could not help but think of the parallels of the two societies depicted, and the way the author ties in the rebellious nature of the main character to simply be allowed to express feeling. The key in this analysis is the importance of feeling, hope, and love in keeping our sanity as human beings. Yes perhaps we could function in an environment sought to conceal these things, but it would be akin to being a prisoner in one's own body. I found it interesting that Orwell used sex as the initial rebellious release and found disturbing (as of course intended) the way copulation was treated within the Party members.
This book was definitely a wonderful read, and it seems to me that it would give light to new situations each time it is read, for every reader. Definitely agree with it's status as a classic, and of course the futuristic (for its time) depiction of the world gives rise to it's fame in the Science Fiction community.
posted by Andreas Haukås at 12:37 AM
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