Book Review: 1984 by George Orwell
October 13, 2020
I was warned about this book. That it is dark and sad and messy. It is all of those things. If you are not a fan of sad and messy, I am going to say it now, don’t read this book. I happen to be someone who likes seeing the way others perceive the future to be. I like seeing things from another point of view, even it it’s a dark and scary one. This being said, this book was written out of the mindset that this would be the happening of the world if things didn’t change, and it may not have happened in the timeline that George Orwell had predicted, there are things that are eerily familiar with what is happening today.
There are quite a few documentaries, that I refuse to watch because just the thought of them freaks me out, that talk about the way that we are being watched here in the US. I have also heard recently that there are certain counties that you are watched constantly under the guise of protection. It is hard to say whether it is for our protection, the governments protection, or a bit of both.
This book is about a man named Wilson Smith and we meet him when he is in his late thirties. As time goes by you begin to see that it is pretty irrelevant – the government is in control of what is remembered and what is happening. They have (almost) successfully brain washed the entirety of the globe and convinced them that there was nothing before today and nothing after. There is only now and what we say is happening now. They have convinced everyone that their way is not only the best, but the only way to be living. We follow Wilson, in part one, through his daily life and its monotony. In it he is happy, but there is something eating at him about it not being quite right. Big Brother is in charge of all things and he sees all things and he knows all things. There are screens on every wall that are two way – filling the space with news and brainwashing and also with the ability to see into businesses, lunch halls, and homes. Everyone is watched at all times. Listened to at all times. Brainwashed at all times.
As you follow along with Wilson, you get to know that he is against Big Brother but he doesn’t really know what to do about it, until he meets this girl, Julia. There is nothing that they can say around the screens, for even just a wrong facial expression can send them into custody, but they find a way to talk. They understand very little about what love and happiness is, but being together brings them the closest they can come. They even find a way into the Brotherhood, a underground revolution fighting against Big Brother, but this all comes to a screeching halt when their safe place turns out to have been a trap.
In part three, there are quite a few confusing elements. It is not easy to understand what is real and what is coming from Wilsons mind. The man he thought was on his side is now the one that is inflicting the torture and he is confused but also endeared to him. Time goes by without much understanding of it, and in the end it is forty years after part three had started; leaving you saddened and confused. He has been broken.
Overall, I would suggest this book if you are in an okay place to be filling your mind with scary things, but if not I would skip over this one.
