1984
This section is dedicated to 1984 by George Orwell. Through reading and reflection, we explore surveillance, propaganda, truth, and resistance in one of the most influential dystopian novels in world literature.
A friend once asked me: what struck you most about reading 1984? Many people say fear. But for me, it was something else—a bone-deep sorrow that tears couldn’t wash away. In that twilight room, he and she wake from their sleep after making love. The evening sun streams through the window, falling across her body. Outside, a washerwoman sings, and the world goes on with its ordinary traffic and bustle. In that moment, their love is undeniable, real beyond question. They both know it won’t last. But the human feelings that have come back to life—he thinks—no one can ever take those away. Later, in a winter park, she tells him: “I betrayed you.” He says, “I betrayed you too.”...
“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four.”— George Orwell, 1984 My father once taught me that some thoughts are better left unspoken—kept safely in your heart. I believe this is a profound truth, and perhaps the reason many of us still live peacefully in this world. Yet we all know the pain of suppressing our thoughts, unable to express them. Sometimes they slip out unintentionally, or explode at an unexpected moment. If this were the world of 1984, congratulations—you’ve just committed thoughtcrime. “Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death.” 1984 depicts an era that exists nowhere in particular time or space, yet the novel has become something many politicians fear. Its dystopian vision repeats...
After Reading
North Ward