WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

GEORGE ORWELL’S 1984

Have you heard the phrase “Big Brother is watching you”? It was invented by George Orwell in 1984, his novel about a society where the state has control not just of actions, but also of feelings, hopes, desires and dreams.

The Masters of Fear

1984 is one of the most famous 20th-century dystopias•.

 It is set in an imagined country called Oceania, ruled by a totalitarian government called the Party. The Party has had absolute control for as long as most people can remember. The country is always at war, people’s every act is controlled by the government, and they are taught not to question anything. According to the Party, this is necessary for the greater good of all.

The Party’s three slogans are “war is peace”, “freedom is slavery”and“ignorance is strength”. Do they sound contradictory*? It does not matter. You should trust the Party over your own judgment*. When your instinct tells you one thing, but the Party another, it is the Party which must be right.

The Place without Darkness

The novel tells the story of Winston Smith, who works at the information-controlling Ministry of Truth but who, very secretly, does not feel any love for the Party. Winston is a classic antihero; he isn’t particularly heroic, brave or clever.

He falls in love with a woman named Julia and starts a relationship with her. He also discovers a group of people who oppose the regime. The leader of this group, O’Brien, assures Winston that they will meet, one day, in a place where there is no darkness. Winston believes he means in a future where everyone is happy. For a while, we think the dull, grey, world of Oceaniamight have some life in it after all. Together with his love and his new friends, Winston is going to fight for freedom and the right to love.

But 1984 is not famous for its happy ending. Athough Winston does end up in “a place where there is no darkness”, it is no happy future. He comes face-to-face with O’Brien under the bright, terrible lights of the torturers* at the Ministry of Love, where those guilty of “thoughtcrime” (having politically wrong thoughts) are broken until they love the Party once again.

A World without Privacy

In Orwell’s invented world, every action is observed. Each house is installed with telescreens that pick up your every movement. Children are encouraged to spy on their parents, and any dangerous act can be registered by the Thought Police and may result in vaporisation: killing the person and removing all evidence of their existence. One of Winston’s jobs is to rewrite newspaper articles so that the names of vaporised people disappear from history.

Orwell wrote the book in the 1940s, when 1984 was a year in the far future. The Communist regimes of Eastern Europe were young and had not yet put in place the level of surveillance* state that was to come. The technology in Orwell’s Oceania was pure science fi ction.

These days, the technology is all around us. It’s no great surprise that many of the terms in Orwell’s book have entered our daily vocabulary (see “Orwell’s Words”). Many people believe that in a world of surveillance cameras and electronic passports, public information on the internet and anti-terrorism laws where people can be arrested without trial, Orwell’s vision of the future could become a reality at any time. If it hasn’t done so already.Joanna Coleman (UK)

Throughout his life British author George Orwell (1903–1950) was interested in the impact of politics on normal human life. His other famous work, the political allegory Animal Farm, tells the story of farm animals who rebel hoping to create a society where they are all equal but end up under a dictatorship. It reflects the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union.

Stranger than fiction: a British movie adaptation made in 1956 was secretly funded by the CIA.

GLOSSARY*

contradictory – very diff erent from each other (so they cannot both be true)

judgment – opinion

torturer – a person who causes great physical or mental pain to somebody

surveillance – careful watching of a person or place, especially by the police or army

LANGUAGE POINT

•A dystopia is a nightmarish, terrible world (or a story set in such a world). It comes from its opposite, the word utopia, which was invented by a 16th-century English writer describing a fictional island where everybody is happy. He took the word from the Greek, meaning “nowhere”.

George Orwell’s 1984
1. newspeak: Euphemisms, jargon and other terminology used to control how people talk about something controversial.
2. doublethink: The psychological state of being able to believe two contradictory (= opposing) things at once.
3. memory hole: Any device to hide the past, such as deleting old Tweets and YouTube videos without saying what you’ve done. Also used as a verb meaning to (try to) destroy the evidence of something someone has said or done.
4. Big Brother: A state that is over-controlling; also a television programme where the participants are kept in a house and watched in their every move.

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CD Track 7

1984 by George Orwell

The Ending of the Book

The voice from the telescreen was still pouring forth its tale of prisoners and booty and slaughter, but the shouting outside had died down a little. The waiters were turning back to their work. One of them approached with the gin bottle. Winston, sitting in a blissful dream, paid no attention as his glass was filled up. He was not running or cheering any longer. He was back in the Ministry of Love, with everything forgiven, his soul white as snow. He was in the public dock, confessing everything, implicating everybody. He was walking down the white-tiled corridor, with the feeling of walking in sunlight, and an armed guard at his back. The long-hoped-for bullet was entering his brain.

He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exiled from the loving breast! Two gin scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.

TASK 1

Listen to the ending of the book and fill in the missing words.

The 1 ______________ from the telescreen was still pouring forth its tale of prisoners and booty* and slaughter*, but the 2 ______________ outside had died down a little. The waiters were turning back to their 3 ______________ . One of them approached with the gin bottle. Winston, sitting in a blissful* dream, paid no attention as his 4 ______________ was filled up. He was not running or cheering any 5 ______________ . He was back in the Ministry of Love, with everything 6 ______________ , his soul white as snow. He was in the public dock, confessing 7 ______________ , implicating* everybody. He was walking down the white-tiled corridor, with the feeling of walking in 8 ______________ , and an armed guard at his back. The long-hoped-for bullet was entering his brain.He gazed up at the enormous 9 ______________ . Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of 10______________ was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless* 11 ______________ ! O stubborn, self-willed* exiled from the loving breast! Two gin scented tears trickled down the sides of his 12______________ . But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was 13 ______________ . He had won victory over himself. He 14 ______________ Big Brother.

GLOSSARY*

booty – any valuable things or money stolen by an army at war

slaughter – the killing of many people

blissful – extremely happy

to implicate – to show that someone is responsible for something bad

needless – completely unnecessary

self-willed – basing your actions on your own decisions without listening to advice from other people

TASK 2

What happens to Winston at the end of the book?

War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength: George Orwell’s 1984

TASK 1:

1 voice, 2 shouting, 3 work, 4 glass, 5 longer, 6 forgiven, 7 everything, 8 sunlight, 9 face, 10 smile, 11 misunderstanding, 12 nose, 13 finished, 14 loved

TASK 2:

Sample answer: He gets brainwashed into loving Big Brother