"1984" last
of Orwell's novel was written in 1948 and published in 1949. The title derives,
in fact, from the year in which it has been written with the inversion of the
last two numbers. The original title was "the last man in Europe" with
references to Churchill considered the last defender of Europe during the II
war world before the intervention of the U.S.A.
This novel
presents a world divided into 3 super states: Oceania, Eurasia
and Estasia, constantly at war. The protagonist is Winston Smith. He is a
citizen of Oceania and he has been brought up
like anyone else to accept the monolithic role of "big brother" a mythical and immortal being leader at a party called
ironically "English socialism". In this state, in every house and office there
is a TV-screen called "thought of police"
which controls every word, every actions of people. The language spoken in Oceania called "new speak" is controlled and reduced in
number of words in order to reduce the range of thought.
Winston is an intellectual, a writer and work for the
ministry of thought; he is the last and the only man who tries to rebel against
the system and to keep the control of his inner being, the independence of
thought. He's even member of a party, a secret society which plots against the
totalitarian regime in Oceania but at the end he's arrested by the thought
police and after a long series of tortures and long hours of indoctrination, he
is reduced to an automaton like all the other citizens of Oceania.
"1984"
belongs to the tradition of the anti-utopian novel started by the novel "Brave
new world" written by Aldus Huxley; in fact in "1984" Orwell does not describe
an ideal better world but an apocalyptic world dominated by suspicion, fair,
violence, suddenness, squalor and hate. Orwell derives the atmosphere of "1984" from his personal experience in Spanish
civil war and in the II war world in particular the Spanish civil war provided
the atmosphere of nightmare which pervaded all the novel while the II war world
pervaded other 2 elements: apathy and
fair, for Orwell apathy was the most terrible feelings that he found among
the British who looked any form of reactions. In conclusion Orwell's message is that only if man is
able to preserve and to keep independence of judgment and thought, and the
control of his own inner being he will be to enjoy of justice, freedom, thought, values
necessary to build a really democratic world based on intelligence and cultural
progress.
