1984

George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four” is a chilling, extremely unsettling novel. The dystopian novel describes a totalitarianism system of authority, in which the “Inner Party” enjoys absolute power and seeks to control all aspects of human life. The novel revolves around Winston and his honest views of the state of his society.
When I first started reading the novel, I initially felt frustrated. It seems to me that the novel consists of ignorant people who chooses to blindly accept whatever the Inner Party tells them. The population is largely made up of the ‘proles’, the lower class. These proles are terribly exploited and oppressed by the Inner Party, and yet none of them seem to be aware of the tyranny around them. None of the proles seem to question the obvious lies and deceit the Inner Party puts out. This is evidenced by the quote “The proles, if they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire. They needed only to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose they could blow the party to pieces tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it? And yet- !” This particular quote made me frustrated. The proles have the capabilities to stand up against the party and rebel against them, yet they focus only on petty, small, insignificant matters. I wanted to shake these proles by the shoulder and tell them to wake up and realize that the Inner Party are exploiting and oppressing them. To me, the hardships and sufferings in their lives are brought about by themselves and their ignorance.
As I read the novel, I felt troubled. I began to understand why these proles never rebelled or stood up for themselves. I realize the extent of the In...

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...tarian government stronger. The ending shows me how in a society described in the novel, even the last sliver of hope, love and humanity cannot win against a powerful, oppressive system. For me, the real horror in the novel is the fact that Winston, try as he might, cannot win against the oppressive, brutal system. Thus, it is vital that we always stand up for what we believe in before a dystopian society can come to pass. Once a totalitarian government has been established, there seems to be no escape. The ending makes the novel’s lesson of always clinging to the truth more vital and more urgent. The question that haunts me as I read this novel was: ‘Could a world like 1984 ever exist?’. Through the way George Orwell concluded the novel, I fear that if we do not stand up for what we believe in, the world in “Nineteen Eighty-Four” may well be the world we live in.