When “1984” was just fiction.
Remember when 1984 was fiction, and a year so far in the future when George Orwell published his novel in 1949 that it seemed impossible?
The CIA smuggled copies behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. Now, as the self-appointed censors on the right have found it to be subversive, sales of the Orwell classic have been soaring.
No wonder that Orwell’s dystopian vision is being recalled and revisited increasingly as the incomprehensible world he imagined hues closer to reality.
WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.
These were the slogans which the citizens of the Orwell’s fictional totalitarian state of Oceania were obliged to accept as guiding if perverted principles.
There are echoes in the current administration’s policies, and Orwell’s novel is now regularly included in the lists of banned books.
It was required reading in my high school, in Roslyn, New York. In January 1957, I “reviewed” it for English 1. For unknown reasons, perhaps because 95+ is written in red pencil at the top, I saved it. The ruminations of a 14-year old are hardly worth unearthing, except…
“George Orwell presents in his book, 1984, a truly frightful picture of the world less than thirty years hence.” In Orwell’s world, Oldspeak is replaced by Newspeak, which, I wrote, “cuts down subversive words such as science, philosophy, and psychology. Th penalty for thoughtcrime, as philosophic reasoning is called in Newspeak, is death….”
The protagonist Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth, the state’s propaganda arm that is in reality a ministry of untruths, disseminating lies.
This is, of course, nothing but Orwellian, an adjective the author’s book inspired that is part of our lexicon and evident today on the White House website, which rewrites the history of the Jan. 6,, 2021 Trump-incited insurrectionist attack on the Capitol that sought to overturn the results of a presidential election.
“The Democrats masterfully reversed reality after January 6,” the White House website asserts, “branding peaceful patriotic protesters as ‘insurrectionists’ and framing the event as a violent coup attempt orchestrated by Trump—despite no evidence of armed rebellion or intent to overthrow the government.”
Then comes a defense of Trump’s “sweeping blanket pardons and commutations for nearly 1,600 patriotic Americans prosecuted for their presence at the Capitol—many mere trespassers or peaceful protesters treated as insurrectionists by a weaponized Biden DOJ.” And, of course, the false narrative of a stolen 2020 presidential election is replayed. It’s the big lie, the tool of authoritarians, and so, well, Orwellian. Trump lied, Trump had lost. Full Stop.
Never mind, to the contrary, that millions of Americans watched the violent attack on our democracy as it unfolded live on television for hours. Back in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston Smith rejects the “Orwellian” untruths promulgated by the state. Instead, as I wrote in that long ago school assignment, he “commits thoughtcrimes in the hope that he can preserve what he feels should be civilization.” Then comes my kicker:
“Mr. Orwell shows great imagination in foreseeing the future… From the standpoint of the prophecy, what can one say now?”
What indeed?
What indeed, indeed? From my reading of a few headlines on my way to crosswords, I have concluded that the WaPo and NYT have decided to pretend that all the unconstitutional, illegal, immoral, unethical, heinous activity is just business as usual, but they offer a revolutionary new standard in recipes for warm socks and chocolate chip cookies. The minions and worst doing Trump’s bidding and thinking up his next abuse not only of power but also of humankind are perfectly self-aware, and choose to accuse others of precisely what they are guilty of.
Who knew that the devotion to that Constitution which formed the basis for Reagan’s City on a Hill is basically the same as the devotion to that Bible that says “Thou shall not kill.” Peace prize for one who planning to take over the resources of another country and give them to his buddies, for whom too much is never enough, my behind, as they say.
Carrie has nailed it. With the murder of Renee Good and the flagrant lies by Trump, Vance, Noem and others, we are rapidly falling into a situation of, “Who you gonna believe, me, or your lying eyes”. By all means, buy your whistles and get involved!
I remember reading it and still think about it. See movie Nuremberg. It is profound
Oh, the memories Gene Meyer brings back. For about a decade one of the courses I taught at the University of Maryland, College Park was about the Political Novel. The class had energetic, even excited conversations about many of the novels.
I recall the discussions of Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm, Handmaid’s Tale, and many classics like A Tale of Two Cities, It Can’t happen Here and All the King’s Men.
Almost always the political novel that produced the most debate and volume was 1984. Generally the class conclusion was “Well, yes, but this is America. There is not chance that we will face our 1984.” Fourteen year old Gene Meyers was straight on when he said “Mr. Orwell shows great imagination in foreseeing the future.” Indeed! And now the question is with 1984 almost here, what do we say and what do we do?