1984: Orwell’s Timeless Warning Against Totalitarianism

On June 6, 1949, George Orwell published 1984, a novel that critiques totalitarian ideologies, often referred to as “Orwellian.” It is an anti-utopian, dystopian, or satirical novel, depending on how you look at it. The novel is set in a time that’s different from Orwell’s own, at least compared to the time when his first book was published. The background reflects the author’s political experiences, and it was published about four years after World War II and the start of the Cold War.

Internal reflection is not easy when you are constantly living in terror and under the brutal influence of world ideologies like fascism and communism. 1984 remains one of the most influential novels in contemporary English literature. Orwell, who was a socialist, targeted the Soviet Union’s communism as the main subject of his criticism. At the time, Joseph Stalin’s regime was in power.

Orwell had been critical of Stalin’s Soviet Union since 1936, siding with anti-Stalinists from the beginning. While others were focused on propaganda, Orwell understood the situation from within, and he felt that the novel was more than just a critique—it was a disappointment in Stalin’s communist regime, which was using all means to maintain power and distort socialism’s original ideals.

In the world of 1984, there are three major countries—Oceania, Eastasia, and Eurasia—that are always at war, fighting for dominance. The main character, Winston Smith, is a member of the ruling Ingsoc party in Oceania. He is a loyal servant of Big Brother and works at the Ministry of Truth, shaping public opinion and creating a reality that supports the Party’s agenda.

At first, Winston is happy with his duties, but eventually, he realizes that people have no idea how their lives work. They move from the past to the present, but they never truly know history because the Party constantly rewrites it. In short, the Party shapes and changes the truth to fit its own needs.

The world in 1984 is chaotic and full of war. Reality is warped; society cannot tell what is right or wrong, and Big Brother’s watchful eyes are everywhere, making people feel like they are always being observed. Posters of Big Brother’s face are plastered everywhere, reminding people that he is always watching. The television screens broadcast reports about the Party’s military victories, economic success, and the supposed improvement in living standards.

However, when Winston tries to find something as simple as a razor, he has to trick others into hiding his meager stash.

Eventually, Winston becomes aware of and disgusted by the Party’s totalitarian rule. Under Big Brother’s reign, everything is done in the name of the “common good.” Winston starts secretly writing a diary as a form of rebellion, hoping to find some hope he feels is completely hypocritical. His writing becomes a way to express his frustration with the Party’s control over individual lives, and he is determined to resist however he can.

Winston’s anxiety builds up until it culminates in his rebellion against the Party, starting with his meeting with Julia. She is a young woman he initially thought might be a Party spy.

Meeting Julia makes Winston feel human again. For the first time, he is able to love someone freely, without coercion. Together, they share all their thoughts openly. When Winston starts writing in his diary, he feels a sense of freedom. However, this freedom only lasts for a while. Winston hopes for a world of peace, freedom, and serenity without the interference of other systems, but the power structure always seems to stay the same.

The Thought Police soon detect Winston’s happiness with Julia and his free thoughts. They crack down on anything that goes against the Party’s rules and Big Brother’s beliefs.

The Party accuses them of crimes—sexual, doctrinal, and thought crimes. Winston’s critique of individual freedom becomes a crime in itself. The Party isolates them, separating them both. As punishment, they undergo physical torture and a period of indoctrination. After everything, they forget about each other.

Though they occasionally cross paths, Winston’s life goes back to being isolated. He is forced to live in solitude while doing everything Big Brother wants. Big Brother is always watching them, and they are all expected to obey him.

In short, 1984 is a political novel Orwell wrote to warn readers about the dangers of totalitarian rule. Orwell personally witnessed the horrors of totalitarian regimes in Spain and Russia, where governments maintained and grew their power. That is why he wrote the book: to warn people in other countries, especially those still hesitant about the rise of communism.

The novel describes a perfect totalitarian society but also shows how modern governments with absolute power operate. It paints a picture of the end of totalitarianism. Without opposition, the world’s diversity could be wiped out. In thirty years, the novel could feel even more relevant. It explains how the government controls and monitors every aspect of life, and it even makes it illegal to have rebellious thoughts.

As the novel goes on, Winston, though timid, starts to rebel and prepare to challenge the Party. However, he soon realizes that the Party’s power to control and enslave people goes far beyond what he ever imagined. The Party uses a range of techniques to control its citizens, from manipulating language and technology to controlling television, writing, criticism, goods, and even small actions like spitting.

Even though the future in 1984 is now the past, Orwell always saw it as an ideological critique of the Orwellian world he created. His fictional world invites readers to imagine a society in crisis under a totalitarian system. However, it also reflects on how power structures in society work, dominating both nature and human autonomy. 1984 raises questions for us today: How do we read Orwell’s futuristic vision in our current context? Does his critique still hold relevance in the era of postmodernism and late capitalism?

Besides reflecting on the power structure in society, Orwell uses various methods for ideological criticism. However, in the broader society, most organizations understand ideology as something neutral. The basic ideas should be free from any prejudice and be explored with patience. Understanding how power structures work in today’s open society is complex.

Society often assumes that ideology is just the science of ideas, doctrines, beliefs, and worldviews in a neutral framework. It is seen as a set of concepts that are understood in a certain way, but this view often ignores the reality that ideology can be used to perpetuate power.

On a more personal level, Winston, apart from just thinking about things, meets Julia, his lover and friend, with whom he shares ideas and criticizes the Party’s unnatural policies. He also meets O’Brien, a core Party member, who he believes is on his side and has connections to a brotherhood that allows freedom of thought. Winston and O’Brien meet several times, discussing the brotherhood and Winston’s plans to actively rebel against the Party, even though it is difficult.

Winston’s search for true brotherhood is about more than just collectivity. Little by little, he wants to experience what it feels like to be human—something valuable, even if it does not produce anything. In his mind, he feels he has defeated the Party, at least in that moment.

Orwell reflects on Winston’s experience and how he uses his diary to express his discontent with the dictatorship and its policies. He conveys that, through writing, Winston could at least escape the hypocrisy of a world without hope. Even if it is secretive, writing allows him to be free. The Party’s constant propaganda distorts reality—erasing the past, making people forget, and turning lies into truth.

The philosophy and logic of the Party reject any external reality that contradicts their narrative. However, Winston still believes in human reason, refusing to accept the Party’s paradoxical and dogmatic logic. Ingsoc, led by Big Brother in Oceania, begins by altering human language with the creation of Newspeak. It is crucial because what separates humans from other creatures is language—and through language, humans live and are shaped.

In linguistics, the dialectical relationship between events and meaning, along with human language, allows us to understand and explain possibilities. By creating Newspeak as the official language and the only means of communication, Ingsoc and Big Brother can easily control their citizens. Orwell even included an appendix that goes into great detail about the rules of Newspeak, explaining everything from its core principles to its grammar and vocabulary.

Newspeak limits freedom of thought by eliminating the ability to express ideas, identity, or individuality—things that could be seen as a threat to Party ideology and Big Brother. This control over language restricts how people can think, but gradually, the Party uses Newspeak to change the way people think to align with what the Party wants. This process embeds the Party’s ideology into everyday life, influencing families, media, schools, and society as a whole until it becomes deeply ingrained in every individual’s belief system.

Ultimately, Orwell shows how ideology works in society, both consciously and unconsciously, shaping individual social and political realities. It is not just an abstract idea—it takes on a material form through the Party’s apparatus, influencing the daily practices of individuals. When people accept an ideology, they often do so without questioning its validity simply because they believe the image they are shown is the truth.

Without critical thinking, the doctrine becomes almost like a mystical force that changes people’s judgments, how they think, and how they view social practices. Orwell describes a reality where the system validates itself through symbolic and cultural dominance. Its power in politics and economics only grows, distorting communication and creating a false reality.

In addition to the influence on individuals, Orwell’s critique of ideology also reflects how it is externalized and embodied by individuals in tangible ways. On a deeper level, Orwell highlights how, even with social stratification, minor social reproduction still has a significant impact. However, Orwell’s failure to fully resolve the situation points to a post-ideological society that’s now dominated by utilitarian and hedonistic motivations.

Perhaps in the next century, a new world order and lasting peace won’t be achievable; nations may only resolve conflicts by intensifying them. If only people could agree at the right moment, nations and individuals wouldn’t remain silent. Instead, we could engage in direct dialogue across the globe, continuing to reflect on and remember Orwell’s critique of totalitarianism in 1984.

The postmodern era, in principle, still allows ideology to sink into the core of every individual. Society’s actions no longer reflect their ideological beliefs; instead, things become blurred. After all, extra-ideological mechanisms now regulate social reproduction. In the age of the internet and other advanced technologies, dark domains of oversight constantly monitor us—speech is stifled, history is rewritten, and power is removed from society and alienated.

Absolute power is also starting to show up in private companies that control the online world as people spend more time in the virtual realm. On the one hand, they allow us to see the world in different ways, but on the other hand, these companies, driven by profit, have access to data and can track users at any time. On social media, propaganda like Islamophobia, homophobia, radical religious views, anti-Semitism, and gender insensitivity are constantly being produced.

It is like an open party, but it is not based on common sense. The public space on social media is filled with fraud, manipulation, consumerism, and nonsense.

References

• McGee, S. (2020). Orwellian Realities in the Age of Digital Surveillance and Social Media. Journal of Modern Literature, 45(3), 123-145.
• Orwell, G. (1949). 1984. Secker & Warburg.
• Templer, R. (2018). Orwell, Totalitarianism, and the Manipulation of Truth. Political Science Review, 27(1), 57-78.