Post by Studio BRUNEL on Apr 13, 2018 8:28:30 GMT
So I've noticed how there was a thread on Animal Farm (one of my favourite novels ever!), but there wasn't really much concerning George Orwell's other masterwork: 1984.
Being a student of the Cold War, the Soviet Union and the Third Reich, I find Totalitarian Regimes a deeply interesting subject. If they were real, the Imperium of Man from Warhammer 40K, the Galactic Empire from Star Wars, Bodouria from The Adventures of Tintin and the World Government from One Piece also make interesting examples.
Therefore, I've come to appreciate both Animal Farm and Oceania as some of the most well-thought out regimes in fiction. However, the difference is that while Animal Farm focuses more on the retelling of real events, albeit in a different context (the rise of Joseph Stalin in particular), 1984 has the grimmest, gloomiest world of Airstrip One thought out in such a way that it would make the likes of Adolf Hitler cry if he saw the attrocities they committed during the constant state of 'War' they lived in.
What's the most interesting thing is Orwell's concept of censorship in Airstrip One. If, for example, you show even the slightest sign of cynicism for the Ingsoc movement, you can just disappear. You don't die, but Disappear. You never even existed, and if someone tries to claim you did, they too would disappear without a trace, into the cleverly named Ministry of Truth.
Trying to piece together the events of the world's history following the Fall of Berlin in May, 1945, is tricky, because the narration is intentionally unreliable. Even though the narrator has no prescence whatsoever in the story, it is almost as if he/she/it lives in the same world as Winston, lookingnover his shoulder and additionally taking the same things at face value as presented by the Ingsoc Party.
The language invented for Airstrip One is impressive as well. The lingua franca of Oceania is Newspeak, which is a bizzare and increasingly rapid mutation of the Modern English language. One example of this is the ideology used by the Inner Party which controls the regime. Ingsoc is really a smacking together of 'English Socialism'.
The reason I find this so impressive is because over the space of approximately ten years (which is when I believe at the end of WW2, the Americans went to Nuclear War with Soviet Russia, therefore reshaping the boundaries of the globe), the period appropriate, yet totally discriminatory Conservative Opinion of what is classified as the 'Civilised World' changes a language almost over night, when in reality, it would take centuries for a language to mutate to such a degree.
The English Language started off as essentially the mongrel child of the Norman French, Roman Latin and Scandinavian Norse, along with the Germanic Celtic influence. What would have been said back in say, 1300, would not be the same as be spoken today, nigh-unintelligible to a degree.
Another concept that surfaces commonly in Orwell's later works is his tendency to sit on the fence when it comes to the political spectrum. Initially, he was a Communist, and fought in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939, where he and thousands of his comrades fell victim to the modern Nazi War Machine in its first real conflict. This, understandably, traumatised him, and contributed to his writing about a imaginary Fascist regime in 1984.
However, his witnessing of Stalin's brutalities during his reign also led him to steer off of hardline Communisim, and therefore, he became a Democratic Socialist. His knowledge of Stalin's brutalities led him to write the initially controversial Animal Farm, where the Soviet Politburo were depicted as pigs and the main antagonist, the brutish Napoleon, was modelled off of Stalin's personality.
I am a great fan of both of these books, and remain impressed by how much detail both pack. As I have knowledge that Ryan also likes 1984, I hope he, and the rest of you, will find this thread of much interest. Please add your thoughts on George Orwell's twisted world below. I'm always interested!
From the Desk of Phantom Payne
Being a student of the Cold War, the Soviet Union and the Third Reich, I find Totalitarian Regimes a deeply interesting subject. If they were real, the Imperium of Man from Warhammer 40K, the Galactic Empire from Star Wars, Bodouria from The Adventures of Tintin and the World Government from One Piece also make interesting examples.
Therefore, I've come to appreciate both Animal Farm and Oceania as some of the most well-thought out regimes in fiction. However, the difference is that while Animal Farm focuses more on the retelling of real events, albeit in a different context (the rise of Joseph Stalin in particular), 1984 has the grimmest, gloomiest world of Airstrip One thought out in such a way that it would make the likes of Adolf Hitler cry if he saw the attrocities they committed during the constant state of 'War' they lived in.
What's the most interesting thing is Orwell's concept of censorship in Airstrip One. If, for example, you show even the slightest sign of cynicism for the Ingsoc movement, you can just disappear. You don't die, but Disappear. You never even existed, and if someone tries to claim you did, they too would disappear without a trace, into the cleverly named Ministry of Truth.
Trying to piece together the events of the world's history following the Fall of Berlin in May, 1945, is tricky, because the narration is intentionally unreliable. Even though the narrator has no prescence whatsoever in the story, it is almost as if he/she/it lives in the same world as Winston, lookingnover his shoulder and additionally taking the same things at face value as presented by the Ingsoc Party.
The language invented for Airstrip One is impressive as well. The lingua franca of Oceania is Newspeak, which is a bizzare and increasingly rapid mutation of the Modern English language. One example of this is the ideology used by the Inner Party which controls the regime. Ingsoc is really a smacking together of 'English Socialism'.
The reason I find this so impressive is because over the space of approximately ten years (which is when I believe at the end of WW2, the Americans went to Nuclear War with Soviet Russia, therefore reshaping the boundaries of the globe), the period appropriate, yet totally discriminatory Conservative Opinion of what is classified as the 'Civilised World' changes a language almost over night, when in reality, it would take centuries for a language to mutate to such a degree.
The English Language started off as essentially the mongrel child of the Norman French, Roman Latin and Scandinavian Norse, along with the Germanic Celtic influence. What would have been said back in say, 1300, would not be the same as be spoken today, nigh-unintelligible to a degree.
Another concept that surfaces commonly in Orwell's later works is his tendency to sit on the fence when it comes to the political spectrum. Initially, he was a Communist, and fought in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939, where he and thousands of his comrades fell victim to the modern Nazi War Machine in its first real conflict. This, understandably, traumatised him, and contributed to his writing about a imaginary Fascist regime in 1984.
However, his witnessing of Stalin's brutalities during his reign also led him to steer off of hardline Communisim, and therefore, he became a Democratic Socialist. His knowledge of Stalin's brutalities led him to write the initially controversial Animal Farm, where the Soviet Politburo were depicted as pigs and the main antagonist, the brutish Napoleon, was modelled off of Stalin's personality.
I am a great fan of both of these books, and remain impressed by how much detail both pack. As I have knowledge that Ryan also likes 1984, I hope he, and the rest of you, will find this thread of much interest. Please add your thoughts on George Orwell's twisted world below. I'm always interested!
From the Desk of Phantom Payne