The Indiependent’s Favourite Books

1984 // George Orwell

Over the course of your life, it is rather likely that you will have encountered someone using the phrase, “it’s a bit like 1984,” or “Orwellian.” This is a symbol of just how iconic Orwell’s 1984 has become. In a world of constant surveillance, in which people are unable to think for themselves or even have autonomy over their own bodies, protagonist Winston Smith defies this strict, totalitarian society. My reason for loving this book is the themes Orwell explores of censorship, totalitarianism and psychological control.

However, the reason the book is so relevant in today’s world is the creation of a slippery slope when the state has too much power. Living in the ‘most surveilled society,’ in which the Telegraph claimed there was ‘one security camera for every eleven people in the UK,’ 1984 is a representation of the dystopian world that is created when the extremity of ‘protection of the state’ is reached. 1984’s image of a world which is counterproductive in which morals are sacrificed to uphold its own values of idolising socialism with the cult of personality towards the figurehead and face of the ruling Party of Oceania, “Big Brother”.

As well as the totalitarian theme, 1984’s depiction of censorship is unique from anything seen before. Any speech against the party results in a person being “vaporized” and their history is utterly eliminated from history. Smith’s job is to edit newspapers to delete the lives of anyone who is now an “unperson,” as if they didn’t exist. He also edits the claims of the Party, as if to constantly portray them as omniscient. It is not the freedom of expression that is censored, but existence that is censored too. Readers are thereby left to question our means of identity and legacy; if all traces of ourselves can be so easily deleted what with the rise of technology, what protection do we really have from a utilitarian and totalitarian state?

Orwell’s illustration of these concepts in dystopian society are influenced by Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, but in a way which is more appealing to read and more concentrated on the horrors of a censored totalitarian world. Its relevance today, as a comparison to modern dictatorships and suppressed societies, make it a timeless description of why liberty is so important amongst today’s world.

Words By Chris Paschali

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