Dystopia In George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
A dystopia is normally defined as an unfavourable society. Dystopian literature follows exactly this definition, and is written around a society that is actively working against the protagonist’s desires of liberty and decent living conditions. The novel Nineteen Eighty-Four written by George Orwell talks about a future with a totalitarian government that (successfully) attempts to manipulate its inhabitants. This literary piece conforms to the conventions of dystopian literature because it’s written for the traditional purpose of a dystopian novel and it contains signature dystopian traits.
A dystopian novel like 1984 is set in the future and its purpose is to warn the reader to change their attitude about society. This was exactly the goal of 1984’s writer Eric Arthur Blair, who started using the pseudonym ‘George Orwell’ when he developed a hatred for imperialism. He wrote the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four in 1948 out of fear that Britain would embrace either fascism or socialism after the Second World War. The purpose of warning the reader of a desolate future is one aspect of dystopian literature that this novel conforms to.
Another aspect of dystopian literature is evidently that it takes place in a dystopia with a totalitarian government. In 1984 this is Oceania, an autocratic superstate that controls the freedom,
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In Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston portrays the role of this rebel by hating the Party intensely. This is obvious from his numerous thought crimes that range from keeping an illegal diary wherein he writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” (Part I, chapter 1) to committing ‘sexcrime’ by having a love affair with Julia, who is a propagandist for the Junior Anti-Sex League. Winston puts a lot of effort into his quest to achieve freedom but, like all dystopian stories, this ultimately fails when he’s brainwashed and put back into society as a loyal subject of the
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