I was not unaware of the irony of finishing George Orwell's 1984 precisely during this tumultuous period in Romania. Or, as my former history teacher liked to say, we cannot feign ignorance if we know our past. Connections arise subconsciously, drawing parallels between what we have studied—history textbooks, biographies, novels—and current events, whether we like it or not. I remember it as if it were yesterday: the phrase “Those who do not know their history are condemned to repeat it” written in capital letters on the classroom wall, like a silent warning.
The atmosphere in 1984 is unmistakably bleak—an Orwellian dystopia so striking that the author’s name has become synonymous with any evolved totalitarian regime. The novel depicts 1950s Britain, a society ruled by fear and absolute control, where those in power pursue their own interests, and even the act of independent thought is considered a luxury.
Power is represented by “Big Brother”, the leader of society from
whom you cannot run away or hide. The ultimate traitor is the
Brotherhood that wants to rebel. The protagonist, Winston Smith,
attempts to understand the vague memories he has of a world that is
not like the one he lives in now. Freedom of thought is almost
non-existent, with people being monitored even in their sleep by the
“Thought Police”. Values are overturned:
„ Războiul este pace
Libertatea este sclavie
Ignoranța este putere””
.
Poverty kills millions, yet it is sustained by those in power to control the population. War is, was, and always will be. The only joy allowed is collective, under the name Victory. English is replaced by a simplified language to better control thought. Books are written by machines, and films exist to reshape history, adapting the past to the words of “Big Brother,” who is always, without question, right. The ministries themselves are contradictions: the Ministry of Truth falsifies reality, the Ministry of Peace wages war, the Ministry of Plenty enforces daily rations and keeps the population in poverty, and the Ministry of Love tortures, interrogates, and kills “traitors.”
Winston begins his personal rebellion by buying a diary, recording his first thoughts and questions—ideas that society does not allow him to even consider. Later, he meets Julia, who rebels by embracing her own sexuality, and he falls in love with her. Their love is sincere, yet doomed. Orwell manages to capture one of the most defining traits of an extreme totalitarian regime: the crushing of the human will, and above all, the control over emotion itself…
After reading this, I can’t help but wonder: how likely is such a future? The signs seem clear, don’t they? A dictatorial leader with a narrow worldview, little education, isolationist tendencies, lies spat without shame, a populist rhetoric… How easy it is to spot these signs—and yet, how many of us would actually recognize them? After all, great critics considered this dystopian society, by definition, bleak.
If I were to recommend it?? It is a must.
-AE
