George Orwell's literary legacy and warnings against totalitarianism

He was an important journalist and novelist of the 20th century. Born in India when he returned to London he published his first book, Down and Out in Paris and London, under the name of George Orwell (it wasn’t his real name, it was a pen-name). In this book he described the conditions of the poor in the two capital cities.

Major Works of Orwell

Orwell wrote a series of books before going to fight in the Spanish Civil War, and when he came back to England he described his war experiences in Homage to Catalonia.

Some time later he wrote an allegorical novel named Animal Farm which is an anti-Soviet satire in a pastoral setting featuring two pigs as its main protagonists.

His greatest novel was Nineteen Eighty-Four, a “dystopian” vision of a future world ruled over by an oppressive totalitarian regime in which the state controls every detail of a person’s life. All of his work was based on his interest in the social and political conditions that he had observed in his own lifetime.

Orwell is one of the strongest anti-totalitarian voices of literature. His works express warning against the power and the dangers of totalitarianism in society.

Animal Farm and Political Satire

Animal Farm shows Orwell’s political positions. It is written in the form of a political allegory, in which human characters are replaced by farm animals, the novel is a representation of the dangers of all kinds of revolutions and denounces the threat of selfishness and greed (avidità-cupidigia) that characterizes human actions.
The novel that contains the poet’s strongest anti-totalitarian message is Nineteen Eighty-four. It denounces the dangers of totalitarianism by representing a world in which human individuality has been cancelled by the actions of an oppressive government.

Big Brother and Surveillance

Big Brother is the head of the Party, which governs over the citizens in a system of constant surveillance. Winston Smith is a journalist whose task is to rewrite old newspaper articles, so that history can be adjusted to support state policy. Smith rebels against the oppression of the regime, he writes a diary to keep record of the events and to support and share his idea of freedom.

He meets Julia, with whom he has an affair that will be discovered by the Police. The two lovers will be arrested and subjected to brainwashing until they are cured. Now they confess, convinced of their guilt and stupidity for having failed to love big brother.

Big brother is an image present everywhere in the state of Oceania. A strong and apparently benevolent face that looks at all citizens from posters and tv screens. The slogan that we used to find everywhere was “Big brother is watching you”. This reflects a regime where all the citizens can be spied upon and where even thoughts are not private.

Tools of Power: Newspeak and Doublethink

The instruments of power: Newspeak is the name of the reformed version of the English language (oldspeak). It involves the elimination of all irregular forms, the reduction of vocabulary, and its aim is to reduce the possibility of independent and unorthodox thought by removing words which could express concepts like democracy or freedom.

The other instrument of power and mass control was doublethink the ability of holding two contrasting ideas at the same time, even when they are contradictory. Doublethink represents the cancellation of human conscience and rationality.

Orwell's Dystopian Future

Power and domination: Orwell’s objective was to represent the possible future of England. 1984 refers to the future of England and is the reverse of 1948, the year in which Orwell wrote the book. The novel examines the role of power and domination in an imaginary future society that reflects the totalitarian regimes that Orwell came to know in that period. The poet focused on the difficulty of preserving individuality, the value of truth, and personal freedom in a society in which language was manipulated. Orwell offered a vision of an oppressive future society as a warning to the Europe of his day.

Winston Smith: Symbol of Resistance

Winston Smith: Protagonist of the novel, his name is symbolical; Winston refers to Winston Churchill and Smith is a very common English surname. His name seems to suggest the idea that he is a common Englishman, a sort of contemporary Everyman. Winston is one of the few human beings whose humanity has not been completely cancelled by the totalitarian regime in which he lives. In spite his attempts to preserve his humanity and his love love for Julia, he surrenders in room 101, where he is tortured and forced to betray his lover.