Friday, 8 April 2011

1984 presents Orwell's definition of dystopia as a warning to us. What specifically is Orwell warning us against and how does he achieve this?

In considering
whatis warning us about in , we should consider the context in which the
novel was written. Published on the heels World War II, the novel is concerned with the dangers
of government control. Orwell had just seen Hitler attempt to subjugate much of Europe and
Stalin consolidate oppressive power in Russia. The possibility of government domination was not
a fantasy, it was a reality.

Orwell combines the threat of government
oppression with the potential for emerging technology to be used to control society. At this
time, radio was still a relatively new invention, and television was being developed but was not
yet commercially viable. Orwell saw these technologies as something that governments could use
as surveillance tools to monitor their citizens. In the novel,andare constantly on guardworried
about being listened to or seen. Virtually every house and...

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