1984 NOVEL REVIEW

1984 is an adaptation from the original novel written by George Orwell in 1948. It is a science fiction book about how government controls people’s lives every second of the day. The story is set in 1984 in London and tells the story of Winston, a member of the party who starts to be unhappy with his life.

I chose the book for two reasons. The first one was because I asked a good friend of mine who works in a bookstore that recommended me an interesting book to read. And the other one was because I was curious to know who was Big Brother and why there is a reality show with his name.

In my opinion the book is a political novel written with the purpose of warning readers of the dangers of totalitarian governments. I also think it is ahead of the time it was written because the control over people begins with the advance in technology. Nowadays, there are cameras watching us everywhere and also there is information about us on computers. Fortunately, the author’s future has not been exactly the same as the world in 1984, although, in some way he was trying to warning us about the possible danger of power.

While I was reading the book, I felt a bit disturbing, thoughtful and even scared. In spite of there was a love story in the book, there was not a happy ending. I think the most worrying part of the book was when Winston realized what really was inside ‘the room 101’. That part of the story was quite terrifying. The most curious things were the Newspeak language and the new words that were invented. For example an ‘unperson” is someone who has been not only killed by the government, but erased from existence.  I also discovered that ‘Big Brother’, who never appears in person in the novel and may not actually exist, was the enigmatic dictator who always was watching people. His image was stamped on posters with the message ‘BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU’.

I recommend reading this book because it could make you wonder about several aspects of our current life like what kind of government we have, how free we are, why we believe in everything that is said on television, etc.