"1984" novel by Georges Orwell

I have read again the great novel 1984 by Georges Orwell that I had discovered twenty years ago. Like all the masterpieces, this book is still relevant today although it has been written in 1948. One can also say that more the time passes more accurate are the predictions of Orwell, for there are two levels of reading that novel. It remains a very precise description of all kinds of totalitarianism, whether from the right or the left, since it not only highlights the dictatorships’ control over the ideas of the citizens but also over their feelings and dreams.  Moreover, it denounces despots’ shams to create “enemies from abroad”, who are interchangeable when necessary.

That have been said, the book reflects also on the technicisation of society that transforms human beings to robots without any specific qualities or originality.  

Indeed, the “Big Brother” regime falsifies the events of the Great History in order to justify his policy, and people are compelled to forget their past (family and souvenirs) for memory plays a key role in the construction of personality.

These ideas are particularly relevant today, in the time of Internet, multimedia and social networks that question the notions of space and time, but also the ideas of individual and collective identity.

As for the aesthetics of the novel, 1984 never falls into didacticism thanks to Georges Orwell’s gift for storytelling that enabled him to create a credible universe, where the reader follows Winston Smith in his daily life and his encounters, notably with the mysterious Julia…

Lyes Ferhani