This blog is a thinking activity on George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four also known/published as 1984. This task is assigned by Dr Dilip Barad sir. This blog will see the central themes of the novel, 1984 as dystopian fiction, meaning the term Orwellian, and Newspeak.
What is dystopian fiction? Is '1984' a dystopian fiction?
Dystopia was introduced in contrast to utopia. The term Utopia was first coined by Thomas Moore for his 1516 book Utopia. The term Utopia is Literary translated as "no place", coming from the Greek meant non-existent society, when 'described in considerable detail'. However the meaning of this word has changed with time, now Utopia usually describes a non-existent society that is intended to be viewed as considerably better than contemporary society.
A utopia typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members.
If I were to describe Utopia then its meaning would be, A perfect but illusory place where everybody desires to exist.
Dystopia is often treated as the opposite of Utopia. The meaning of Dystopia is an imagined world in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. Dystopia is often characterized by rampant fear or distress, tyrannical government, environmental disaster, or other characteristics associated with a cataclysmic decline in society.
'1984' as a dystopian fiction
Dystopian society includes the elements like
Complete control over the people in society through the usage of propaganda
The novel Nineteen Eighty-Four has these elements like Society is under the control of a particular political party. In the novel, this political party is known as the Party. The leader of the Party, Big Brother is controlling everybody's lives by keeping eyes on them through surveillance.
Heavy censoring of information or denial of free thought
Heavy censoring of information in the novel is the invention of the new language/dictionary, known as 'Newspeak' in the novel. The ultimate goal of the newspeak dictionary is to narrow language so that 'Thoughtcrime' is impossible. This very idea seems to be imposed on the people but they easily believe every word of the 'Party' and 'Big Brother', 'The Ministry of Truth' exists to alter historical records to fit the Party agenda.
Worshipping an unattainable goal, the complete loss of individuality, and heavy enforcement of conformity.
The Unattainable goal of every political party is to cease control over the country. Oceania, Eurasia, And Eastasia are the three countries that make up the whole earth in the novel. These three countries engage in war, to keep the populace and maintain power among the elite nation. that's what every party is believing and making people believe that they will be a global power.
What according to you is the central theme of this novel?
The central theme of the novel is authoritarianism and totalitarianism. because the Party controls every movement of people By surveillance screen. The leader of the Party, Big Brother is said to be watching everybody, but in reality, nobody has ever seen him. Even Winston Smith at a certain point was said and believed that Big Brother doesn't exist. After so much torture he still says that he hates Big Brother. The term 'Big Brother is watching you', 'Two Minutes Hate', 'Thought-crime', and 'Room No. 101' became very popular.
What do you understand by the term 'Orwellian'?
As this video suggests that many believed its meaning to be Authoritarian, but it is incomplete and cannot fully convey the meaning of the term Orwellian. George Orwell spent most of his life fighting against the anti-democratic forces of both the Left-wing and the Right-wing. He understood the use of language. Language plays a vital role in shaping our thoughts and opinions, politicians use language in such a way that the public easily believes that even if that is not the truth. One of the reasons behind blind faith is the 'Area of interest'.
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