A shocking book
I think I recall reading this in highschool, but of course, did not realize it's value at the time. Upon reading it 20 years later, I was amazed! This was a very shocking book in that when it was written there was no way the author could have known what would have been invented or happening in our present time or in 1984. It reads like fiction, but we know it is reality. He sheds light on many events that are already in motion, even though government may not make it official to the public. This book is a warning of just how terrible life could be if we continue to be blinded by what we are told by the media; how truth is distorted by the deliverer and their masters and how humans will ultimately destroy themselves for the sake of power if allowed to do so. Of course history does repeat itself, I hope that will be proven incorrect.
A high schoolers opinion of the classic novel 1984
George Orwell created an interesting but slightly disturbing look at life in his idea of a future world in 1984. He does a brilliant job using symbolism and he really shows some of the flawed points of government and people. His purpose with this novel was to inform people to be aware of what is going on and try not to lost their brains as they follow the crowd. Another important point that he tries to get across is how too much power can corrupt people.
George Orwell, whose real name was Eric Blair, was born in 1903 in a British colony of India. He was most well known in his time for being a journalist, but today he is remembered for his novels. Animal farm is one of his most famous novels along with 1984.
Orwell has many good points and does a wonderful job in passing on those lessons throughout much of the book. That is untill the ending where many of these lessons are then blurred in a confusing, creative, and chilling cliffhanger. While for me the ending was a little disappointing, I can see how many others would enjoy it. I personally prefer endings that are more resolved.
I think that the book tells an intriguing story that will keep the reader on their toes the entire time. On top of that, the characters are wonderfully written and easy to relate to. I found that the goals were well represented. Overall, I think that this is a classic story that is full of excitment, terror, and love. I would recommend it to anyone I know who is looking for a good book.
Disturbing and Relevent
It may be said that great books comment on their times, and on the human experience, but masterpieces actually shape history. We may look at George Orwell's 1984 in two ways: first, his description of the terror of totalitarianism, which his generation witnessed firsthand in the form of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. Orwell does a masterful job of presenting such a world in its day-to-day reality, the unspoken weight of oppression found in police states, the everpresent fear that becomes natural after a while, the ease with which that fear eventually makes you just go along with it all.
But history has also shown us that totalitarianism eventually burns itself out, that it cannot be sustained in the long run. This is scant reassurance for its millions of victims, true, but maybe a bit of hope for the rest of us. The second point about 1984, and the thing that makes it a masterpiece, is the way that it has shaped our culture today, not through its description of totalitarianism itself but the way it describes the very real methods used by governments and ideologies to control us. Terms like "doublethink" are now a part of our daily discourse, describing not the subjects of totalitarian states like North Korea but the modern, wealthy democracies that claim to be free. And this is the most chilling message of Orwell's novel: you don't need to be in a totalitarian regime to be controlled by clever propaganda. You don't need to have the police cameras in your home. You only need the fear of them, or the belief that war is peace or that torture is justice or that history is a thing that the powerful are entitled to rewrite for their own ends. Because self-censorship is every bit as complete as the regular kind, and is actually preferred by those who would control us, since it's far cheaper and easier than putting an actual gun to your head.
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