1984

The novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell, is presented as a warning about a possible, but not inevitable fate for humanity. The society we live in can become the totalitarian state of Big Brother and the Party if we allow it. The abuse of power and dehumanization of mankind are two dangerous prospects. The purpose of this novel is to send the reader a message prompting them to take action in order to prevent this fate and save their society.

Orwell wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four as a warning for the members of his society as well as the societies of the future. As Warburg stated, "...if a man can conceive Nineteen Eighty-Four, he can also will to avoid it."(Reilly, p. 21) Orwell wanted to alert us and make us aware of the possible dangers that could be encountered in the future. Nineteen Eighty-Four is a warning to those who have faith in human progress and in man's ability to create a world of justice and peace.(Fromm, p.257) The novel pinpoints the dangers in today's society and proves to us that this faith is a falacy. Orwell warns us that we are not yet aware that our society is following a doomed path leading to a totalitarian state. He wants us to see the hopelessness of this path before it becomes so commonplace that

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264) Our society is a bureaucracy in which the public is manipulated in order to achieve the political goals of the government and then is betrayed due to ignorance and blind trust. The novel concludes with the destruction of human spirit, but we are not to assume that that is our fate and that it is unavoidable: nor are we to smile and say that it is an absurd supposition. "

In order to gain complete control, the dehumanization of man is neccessary. This is proof that it is possible to destroy human nature. Too much power leads to a totalitarian environment such as Oceania.

Nineteen Eighty-Four is a means to our own salvation from our society. Orwell's novel provokes the question:

Can human nature be changed in such a way that man will forget his longing for freedom, for dignity, for integrity, for love - that is to say, can man forget that he is human? Or does human nature have a dynamism which will react to the violation of these basic human needs by attempting to change an inhuman society into a human one? (Fromm, p. We have learned to produce power in huge amounts with the help of weaponry, war, and politics. Today, political organization and technology can produce inconceiveable amounts of power. This appendix gives us hope because Newspeak is not triumphant, rather the written word, survives in the form of the novel itself. Orwell has written a book about a possibility that people were

unaware of and that most would prefer not to know.

Approximate Word count = 2247
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

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