Why Is 1984 Still Relevant Today

In recent times the dystopian classic 1984, by George Orwell, has gained momentum in many democratic societies; including the United States, with the current political climate greatly contributing to this. The novel 1984 was written in 1944, by Orwell as a prediction of how the world is going to be like in the year 1984. The novel is about a character named Wiston, who lives in a society whose government controls every aspects and every instant of their citizens lives; including their thoughts. Although the year 1984, never became like the daunting reality portrayed in the novel; many still believe this prediction is still relevant and probable in today's world. However, myself among many others believe that Orwell’s prediction will not be happening, at least in the forthcoming future. This is because of several factors which will prevent such totalitarian governance from existing. These
The world presented in 1984 is unlikely to happen because of the improbability for government to be able to control one's thought through systems such as newspeak. For instance, the unlikeliness of such system of oppression of functioning is implied in the book many times. Throughout the book the importance and purpose of Newspeak in suppressing thoughts that go against the party is emphasized many times. This concept is vital to the existence of the party as syme puts it, “The whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought. In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it,” (Orwell 52). However, later in the book seems to suggest that no such system of oppression thoughts is possible. In the chapter “the principles of Newspeak,” Orwell explains the difficulty of implementing newspeak,