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George Orwell's 1984

Rachel Kania
Mar 23, 2010 at 12:14 PM
By Rachel Kania

Last night I watched George Orwell's 1984 come to life on my computer screen. I have never read the book but in the interest of time and entertainment I decided to watch the movie.

The movie demonstrates the powerful psychology behind collectivist thought and the nonexistent big brother who controls the minds of the proletariat. In this lifeless world, people become afraid to step outside of their daily routine in fear of embarrassment, torture, and death. No one is allowed to think or feel, the proles exists solely to work for the omnipotent and omnipresent government.   If you haven't yet seen this grim warning against future totalitarianism, I strongly suggest you watch it.

1984

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I haven't seen the movie version, although I would guess that it castrates the message of the book beyond all recognition, like most movie versions of significant literature. However, if you haven't read this essential work, you should drop anything else you happen to be doing and read it now.

I am most definitely including the author of this post in that exhortation.

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Submitted by Peter (not verified) on March 23, 2010.

The propaganda spin, right or wrong, loves to label things as "Orwellian" or 1984-esque, to the point that it's almost a corrollary to Godwin's Law, and lost all effectiveness. While there are certainly parallels to Mr. Blair's work, I've become convinced that the current state of affairs much more closely mimics Huxley's Brave New World. Our grandchildren's money has just become the new soma.

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Submitted by Artie (not verified) on March 23, 2010.

I would highly recommend reading this book as well. I have watched the movie and it doesn't do the book justice. There is just too much in the book that can't be formatted for movies. I think Huxley's "A Brave New World" is a much better representation of our current system. However, both Huxley, Orwell and probably Rand got their ideas from a dystopian novel by Zamyatin's "We". I highly suggest reading "We".

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Submitted by Charles (not verified) on March 23, 2010.

You haven't read 1984?!

Wow.

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Submitted by Orlando M (not verified) on March 23, 2010.