My take on 1984 by George Orwell.

This is a fiction book written by George Orwell who is famed for writing popular fiction like Animal Farm. Most of my reading material comes from recommendations. This was also a recommendation from an influential person. My relationship with fiction books is strange to say the least. I much prefer Nonfiction because sometimes I find it difficult to get into fiction books. With 1984 I still cannot make my mind up on whether I enjoyed it or not. I should consider the context of the book. The context of the book is that it was published in the 1949 and it was a prediction of what life would be like in 1984.

The book is split into 3 parts and the main character is Winston. The prophecy is that everything and everyone is controlled. This is achieved by the government through 24/7 surveillance. There is no free will. There are various countries and continents and subcontinents at continuous war with each other. Anyone found to be rebelling against the system are severely punished to the point of loss of life. The first part of the story begins with an introduction of the main character Winston. This goes into the second part where he meets someone and enjoys the life of finding love. This leads to him getting caught in this indulgence. The third part goes through the punishment he suffers as a result of this indulgence.

The book describes the blatant methods used by the government to implement Big Brother policies. There is the use of TV screens within buildings such as at home and at work and also in public spaces too. In today’s world we do not have TV screens for spying but small screen devices that fit into our pockets or purses. These devices that we use to communicate with family and friends also pick up conversations that may happen without using the device. The device also keeps track of your location and whereabouts at all times. The information is used to drive individual’s consumerism habits. Adverts are placed in Social Media fields depending on what you are talking about with your family and friends. The ironic thing of course is that we have these devices with us at free will.

A lot of my reflections tend to be within the framework of my faith. Would I be able to practice my faith in this world that is described in 1984. Ultimately the real power is with the people. All it takes is for the people to organise themselves to protest against the way of life that is being dictated to them. We have seen time and time again throughout history when people are persecuted on mass they will rise up and hit back. If we take the Ukraine war for example, the only entity that can defeat Putin is the people of Russia themselves. However that will only happen when and if they realise that they do not benefit from the war.