by Luke Butner

George Orwell is an author who needs no introduction. He wrote several classic novels, such as “Animal Farm” and “1984,” with political philosophies embedded into each novel. His books are part of the high school curriculum, so you have likely read at least one of his works sometime in the past. However, if you have somehow avoided reading his novels, I encourage you to give at least one of them a try. He is a wonderful author with many exciting ideas about society and government. 

“1984” first introduces the reader to a character named Winston Smith, an average working-class person living in Britain. He lives in dystopian London where the “Party” controls all realities, with a character dubbed Big Brother as their head. As the story progresses, the reader sees how many aspects of life the Party controls. They control everything from portion sizes to their exercise routine, leaving no wiggle room for their inhabitants.  

One of the fascinating topics I picked up on while reading this novel is the idea of the real world versus reality. Near the end of the book, the Party forces Winston to experience a shift in his reality without changing the real world. The Party was able to do this because reality is the result of sensing the real world and then perceiving it, implementing our own judgments with our senses.  

Orwell wrote this book as a parallel to the real world. He lived during the time of World War II, and saw the rise of dictators in Germany, Russia and Italy. Because he saw how dictators rule, Orwell wrote “1984” as a warning to the future, if we so choose to allow a dictator to rule over us. The rest of the book involves many different political philosophies, such as the one above. This is an excellent book that should continue to be implemented in high school curriculums not because of the overall storyline, but because of the messages Orwell conveys. As I mentioned earlier, this book serves as a warning as to what will happen if we allow an entity such as the Party to be implemented in our society.