A book called 1984 has risen into the bestselling charts of America once again. 1984 was written by George Orwell in 1949.
In the book, 1984, Orwell writes about a futuristic society of which is always watching you. The main character, a man by the name of Winston Smith, hates the political system that is in place. Winston sees the leader, by the name of Big Brother, as a dictator.
Propaganda for big brother is all over the city, the most prominent one being “Big Brother is always watching.”
Winston meets a woman by the name of Julia. She hates the party, and Big Brother as a whole. She has a rebellion that she pursues, by promoting staying safe, which includes no sex, drugs, and smoking for teens, but she does the opposite of what she promotes. She does all of the things that she promotes not to do.
Julia and Winston meet at work. They develop a “relationship”, which is more like a get-together-and-hook up relationship.
Eventually both get caught, and Winston is thrown into a prison, and tortured. The concept of the prison is truly disturbing because within the prison, there is no separation between the inmates. They are all in a room, underground, with stone on all sides- with mold, leaks, and moss. A trough holds all water, regardless of what you need it for.
Hygiene doesn’t exist, so many don’t have teeth. They get taken out at random, and are tortured for unspecified amounts of time.
Eventually, Winston is lead into believing that he loves Big Brot
her, bringing him to meet Big Brother. The story leaves off there, but you can guess what happens next.
As of this book being a renewed bestseller, the reason might be obvious. Because of the new president, people want to educate themselves on a fictional, maybe real, dictatorship.
It has been established that the NSA collects all of our data, whether it’s a webcam on your computer, or the electronic personal assistant on the phone that you have, your information is being logged and tracked. And, the saying in the book, “Big Brother is always watching you”, relates to that.
People being arrested for peaceful resistance, or nothing at all, goes towards the protests that have been happening, and people being arrested for no reason at all except that they’re not making a certain someone happy.
Hypocrisy and corruption are things that go with every government, in any timeline, any country. Any leader has some agenda, whether it’s deemed bad or good by the people that live under that government. But, within a democracy, the government is supposed to listen to the people, and in this book, and country, The government doesn’t listen to the people. It rejects, or ignores their opinions.
Winston, in the book, wants to change the government. People in this Government want to change the government, such as wanting the electoral college to not override the popular vote, or, rather, have the people decide. People in 1984 are lulled into thinking that they have a choice in their government. People in this government are supposed to have control over their government, such as having the popular vote be the voice of the people.
An interview with Mr. Morris:
Question: How many times have you read the book 1984?
Answer: Many times.
Q: How do you think the main protagonist evolves through the story?
A: He comes to understand that 2+2=5
Q: Why do you think that Winston hate Big Brother?
A: On the contrary, he comes to love Big Brother.
Q: Why do you think that Winston doesn’t shove his hatred for big brother down his throat and stay relatively safe?
A: Because he falls in love with Julia.
By Hannah Zolezzi
The Claw 