George Orwell's 1984 had been compared to Alex Huxley's Brave New World, and was also not on any of the reading lists of English classes. Which was odd, since another of George Orwell's book Animal Farm was. Perhaps at far shorter word count and with animals as the main characters, the heads of English might thought that Animal Farm was less frightening to impressionable young minds.
Which I now do not disagree, having finally read 1984. Like Brave New World, 1984 reads like a horror story, with the story set in what is now the past 1984. Unlike Brave New World, where the story was set much much further in the future, it is possible to now compare if Orwell's depiction of 1984 has come to realisation.
I was quite surprised to read words such as Big Brother and doublethink in 1984, having previously thought they were a rather modern invention or had come about as a response to Soviet Union's surveillance of its people. In addition, some of the technology used for surveillance in 1984, such as telescreens and hidden microphones are similar to high resolution CCTVs that dotted city landscapes now. These are for sure reassuringly to the public as a means to deter crime, and also aid the police greatly in investigations when crimes happen.
Doublethink results in Ministries being named the opposite of what they were meant to do. Thus the Ministry of Love captures and attempts to rehabilitate untried criminals until they proclaim love for Big Brother. This sounds similiar to propaganda being propagated with force. The Ministry of Peace, ironically, busys itself with maintaining war. Which, in today's context, is not too far fetched because many countries do showcase their military might as a means of deterring other countries from attacking them. The Ministry of Truth concerns itself with maintaining Truth - where historical records are constantly updated to suit the Party's point of view at that point in time. Again this is not so far fetched. But looking at the the different perspective of countries involved in the same event, it is possible to see instances where country A claimed to have come to the aid of country C when country B attacked country C, while country B claimed to be aiding country C to assert its independence from country A.
How did the actual world fared in 1984 as compared to the depressing world depicted by Orwell? I googled, and found out:
- totalitarian still existed in certain places
- Indira Gandhi was assassinated
- UK and China agrees to Hong Kong reverting to Chinese rule in 1997
- 1st un-tethered Space Walk
- Widespread famine in Ethiopia
- Brunei gained independence from Great Britain
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