GEORGE ORWELL

1984

Background

OVERVIEWAbout George OrwellHistorical Context: England in the 1940sSourcesEssential QuestionsNYTimes Article/Discussion1984 Trailer

In a time of deceit, telling thetruth is a revolutionary act.

G E O R G E O R W E L L

About George OrwellMAKING POLITICAL WRITING AN ART

Eric Arthur Blair was born to a middle class family andreceived a private education. He strongly disliked hisschool and decided against earning a college degree.Instead, his career took a number of turns and ultimatelyled him to writing. He wrote both fiction and nonfiction,but is best known for his allegorical Animal Farm and hisdystopian 1984. Deeply enraged by totalitarian rulers in power during hislifetime (think Stalin, Hitler...), Orwell set out to write about"the implications of dividing the world into zones ofinfluence" and addressing "the intellectual implications oftotalitarianism" with this novel.

HistoricalContextENGLAND IN SHAMBLES

Following WWII, England was dreary anddispirited. Shortages of food, clothing, and fuel wererampant. Manipulative wartime euphemisms like"Victory Gin" and "Victory Coffee" wereconstant irritations to Orwell and others.

"The era of postwar austerity,severe rationing, unrepairedbomb damage, shabbiness,weariness, and shortages ofthings such as razor bladesand cigarettes forms the dingybackground of 1984" (Lewis112).L E W I S , P E T E R . G E O R G E O R W E L L : T H E R O A D T O 1 9 8 4 . N E W Y O R K : H A R C O U R T B R A C E , 1 9 8 1 .

SourcesINFLUENTIAL TEXTS

W E - E U G E N E Z A M Y A T I NSet in 26th century U.S., We follows a mathematician loyalto his government but in love - a condition outlawed sincelove has no mathematical basis.J A M E S B U R N H A MBurnham wrote extensively about the political future of theworld. His predictions were dark and upsetting. Thinkatomic bombs.J A C K L O N D O NAmerican novelist and journalist, London influenced Orwellthrough Pople of the Abyss and The Iron Heel, in which theworking class are called Proles. Even the title suggests oneof Orwell's favorite images in 1984..

H . G . W E L L SWells, Orwell's childhood hero, often sang the praises oftechnological advances but wrote warily about political andsocial progress.1 9 8 4 - E I L E E N O ' S H A U G H N E S S YTwo years before marrying Orwell, O'Shaughnessy wrote afuturistic poem for the 10th annual reunion of her highschool in 1934. She depicted their lives 50 years in thefuture, 1984.

How does a government affect those who live under it?How do people maintain their humanity in times of

oppression?What leads people to stand up against evil/tyranny?

What fears prevent individuals from standing up againstevil?

To what degree does an individual have a responsibility tothe larger community?

Can a society based on hate survive?What factors lead people to switch from social awareness

to social action?What defines courage?

What is free thought? Is free thought different from freespeech?

What role does language play in society?What is an "ideal" society? What kind of future society arewe creating through our actions, policies, and ideologies

today?Is perception reality and can reality then be controlled?

How does propaganda influence us?Is technology taking us closer to the world of Big Brother?

NYTimes - "HowChina Turned a Cityinto a Prison"

M A S S S U R V E I L L A N C E

C O M P L I A N T C I T I Z E N S

C R E D I B I L I T Y

Whch examples of technology use do you find mostchilling? Why?

What role do the Uighur residents play in this systemof controls? Why do they act against their fellowMuslims?

What evidence do the authors provide to supporttheir claim that these controls hint at a goal of"automated authoritarianism"?