Difference between revisions of "Nineteen Eighty-Four"

Revision as of 02:21, August 21, 2010

Conservapedia smothered by Vandalism!

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-[[Image:1984first.jpg|right|thumb|First edition of ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' published in Britain, 1949.]]
+[[Conservapedia smothered by Vandalism!]]
-'''''Nineteen Eighty-Four''''' (also '''''1984''''') <ref>The title is spelled out, in words, in the original 1949 editions, both as published in England by Secker and Warburg[http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=87&ti=76,87&Search%5FArg=Orwell%2C%20George&Search%5FCode=NAME%5F&CNT=25&PID=11284&SEQ=20070323140446&SID=1] and in the United States by Harcourt, Brace[http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=86&ti=76,86&Search%5FArg=Orwell%2C%20George&Search%5FCode=NAME%5F&CNT=25&PID=11284&SEQ=20070323140446&SID=1]. It is sometimes presented numerically, in digits – '''''1984''''', in modern reprints and derivative works such as screenplays.</ref>
-is a novel by [[George Orwell]] about the excesses of [[totalitarian]] regimes and specifically of [[Stalinist]] [[communism]].
-The book's original title was ''The Last Man in Europe'', but it was changed at the publisher's suggestion. <ref>It is often suggested that "eighty-four" is a reversal of "forty-eight", the year in which the book was written, but this has never been confirmed.</ref>
-Orwell was influenced by Jack London's novel ''[[The Iron Heel]]'', and Yevgeny Zamyatin's ''We''.  The ideas of the American [[conservative]] James Burnham were especially influential in shaping the political situation described in the book.
-Though Orwell was deeply critical of communism, 1984 is not meant to be taken as a condemnation of all left-of-center ideologies, as evidenced by a quote from one of his essays: "My recent novel [Nineteen Eighty-Four] is NOT intended as an attack on Socialism or on the [[British Labour Party]] (of which I am a supporter) but as a show-up of the perversions ... which have already been partly realized in Communism and Fascism. ...The scene of the book is laid in Britain in order to emphasize that the English-speaking races are not innately better than anyone else and that totalitarianism, if not fought against, could triumph anywhere."<ref>''The Collected Essays: Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 4,'' p. 546 </ref>
-== Plot Summary ==
-In the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four, individual, free nations no longer exist; the world has been divided up into three massive empire-states: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia.  [[Christianity]] has been stamped out and an amoral, [[liberal]] [[paganism]] has become the ruling ideology.
-Oceania is, roughly, the English-speaking world: the [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Britain]], [[Australia]], and [[South Africa]]. It is perpetually at war with either Eurasia or Eastasia, and allied with the other. The book describes a hyper-[[liberal]] dystopia where the government, known as the Party, monitors and controls nearly all aspects of every individual's life. Extreme [[liberal]] fanaticism and ignorance are promoted by Oceania through relentless [[propaganda]]. This is practiced to the point that citizens unthinkingly (or, in Newspeak, use ''bellyfeel'') accept everything said and done by the Party, and hate everything associated with the empire-state which happens to the enemy at the moment. It is later revealed that in reality all three empire-states have the same government and are essentially identical in their pursuit of a [[liberal]], [[pagan]] social system.
-The [[protagonist]], Winston Smith, works in the Ministry of Truth, a department of the Oceanian government altering records to fit the Party's current version of history. However, Smith gradually grows to disagree with the Party and what it stands for. Julia, a woman who also works in the Ministry of Truth, becomes Winston's lover, and after meeting in several different places, they finally rent an upstairs room in a prole shop. However, the owner of the shop turns out to be an agent of the Thought Police and Winston and Julia are captured by the thought police right in their room, brought to the Ministry of Love, and tortured to the point where they once again love the Party.
-Much of the novel is taken up with discussions of the nature of power and societal control, and words and mottoes from the novel – "[[doublethink]]", "We have always been at war with Eastasia", "the memory hole" and many more – have become standard shorthand in political discussions, while terms such as "thought police", "Room 101" and "[[Big Brother]]" have entered the language.
-== Background of Novel ==
-The environmental background to the action of the story is a satirical portrayal of late-1940s London, a city where war damage was still very evident, and rationing and shortages a way of life. The Ministry of Truth, as described by Orwell in the novel, is based upon the Senate House building of London University, at the time one of the tallest buildings in the capital, and home during the Second World War to the Ministry of Information.
-== Governmental Structure ==
-The structure of government in Oceania is sharply pyramidal; the mythical, probably non-existent Big Brother rests forever at the top of the pyramid, followed by the tiny Inner Party made up of only 1 million people. Then follows the larger Outer Party, and lastly the "proles," or the Proletariat, who make up, according to the novel, 95 percent of the population. Since Big Brother is probably only a personification of government, it is really the Inner Party which rules Oceania, making it an oligarchy. Goldstein's book refers to the system as "Oligarchical Collectivism."  [[Conservative]] commentators have noted that the system Orwell describes seems like a parody of the worst aspects of [[liberalism]].
-The government is horribly inefficient in all things except constant and oppressive surveillance over Party members. The proles are considered mindless and unimportant, and so are allowed to go free, kept occupied by trashy entertainment known as ''prolefeed.''
-There are four "ministries" or sections of government: the Ministry of Truth, which primarily rewrites history (and in which Winston, the story's protagonist, is employed); the Ministry of Plenty, which squanders resources; the Ministry of Peace, which fuels the perpetual war with Eastasia or Eurasia by using these resources for war purposes; and finally the Ministry of Love, where Party enemies, usually those guilty of ''thoughtcrime,'' are tortured and brainwashed into loving the Party before eventually being killed. The novel describes the Ministry of Love as the most terrifying, as it has no windows and is surrounded by barbed wire and gorilla-like guards with truncheons. Note that all of these names are heavily ironic: the Ministry of Truth spreads lies, the Ministry of Plenty rations food and drink, the Ministry of Peace conducts perpetual war, and the Ministry of Love deals with those who don't love Big Brother.
-==Online version==
-*[http://orwell.ru/library/novels/1984/ Orwell library]
-==Notes and references==
-<references/>
-== See also ==
-*[[Mystery:Did George Orwell Become a Conservative?]]
-[[Category:Novels]]

Difference between revisions of "Nineteen Eighty-Four"

Revision as of 02:21, August 21, 2010

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