Nineteen Eighty four

This is a Satirical English Novel written by George Orwell in 1948. George Orwell (pseudonym of: Eric Arthur Blair) was born in India in 1903, he studied at Eton College with a scholarship. He was a member of the Imperial Police in India where he was sent to Birmania from 1922 to 1927. He lived in Paris and London. He was an english writer very politician, even he wrote a fable about Stalin's treason to the Russian Revolution.

George Orwell died from tuberculosis in Juanary 1950.

How far from reality this novel is?
Today in a world full of comunications media and the power of information, is easy to know the answer. The government knows you more from you than you believe. For example, when you receive a phone call from a specific company, they know all your personal information, you might ask yourself , how is this possible?.

On the other hand, we have now in our city, several cameras watching us 24 hours 7 days a week (they call it security), so our privacy and liberty is being invade. So in a way, the BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING US.

The power of comunications media we cannot control, we must accept what TV tells us, in terms of news, information, religion, education, etc. we must be aware of it.

There are several movies that try to entertain us with this topic: V For Vendetta, Enemy Of the State, Matrix, Brazil. Someone said that movies are a reflection from reality, because if some director do something really new with a new idea, a new picture never seen, he will be a genius. I say this comment because 1984 was released as a movie. Even there is a kind of funny situation, because in 1984, Winston Smith (John Hurt) is the subject ,but in V for Vendetta, Adam Sutler (John Hurt) is the dictator.

I think every human being seek the real freedom, it is a natural needs or impulse, so in this case Winston Smith (39 years old, fearful, lonely person, low selfsteem and unhappy with this system) is not the only person who does not have this instinct. Nobody like being controlled by other people, sons and daughters, employees and every people want to rule their lives by themselves.

For instance, in this novel, there are three empires: Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia which can be associate with Europe, Asia and Oceania. Oceania Empire, which we see in this novel, is controlled by only one party, which ideology is called INGSOC (english socialism). This party is very strong and try to impose an absolute control over their citizens.

Nowadays every country, every government have Ministries, the same as in this empire "Oceania". We have the Ministry of Truth, wich concerned itself with news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts. The Ministry of Peace, which concerned itself with war. The Ministry of Love, which maintained law and order. And The Ministry of Plenty, which was responsible for economic affairs. Their names, in Newspeak (a new language stablished by the empire) Minitrue, Minipax, Miniluv, and Miniplenty.
I think this Ministries are a kind of contradiction because each of them regulate, concerned or try to do it, as opposite.

For instance The Ministry of peace are concerned with war, so to keep peace you have to make war. The Ministry of truth deals with communication media, so we must accept all the information that this Ministry gives us, as the real truth.


This novel is a great one, because it mixes elements from reality with fiction. It shows life of those people who live under a totalitarian power. This novel, I think, it shows us a dark hope because although Winston fights against the system, give us some hope, he was tortured and after that he died, so his fight was in vain because the power of the system increased, in dispite of Winston's dreams.

R.Flores.