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Most clearly modelled on Stalin's Soviet Union and of Nazi Germany, it also draws inspiration from the economic situation of Great Britain (and the rest of Europe) in the aftermath of the Second World War; a worn-out, almost-bankrupt nation with rickety buildings, cold rooms, empty shelves and mystery meat for dinner.&#91;2&#93;"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Nineteen_Eighty-Four&action=edit"/> <link rel="edit" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Nineteen_Eighty-Four&action=edit"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico"/> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/opensearch_desc.php" title="RationalWiki (en)"/> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"/> <link rel="license" href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyrights"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="RationalWiki Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="RationalWiki"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Nineteen Eighty-Four"/> <meta property="og:description" content="Nineteen Eighty-Four (also printed as 1984) is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by George Orwell first published in June 1949. 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margin: 0 0 0.5em 0.5em; text-align:left; border: 1px solid #4B0082; width:175px;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center; color:white; background-color:#4B0082"><b>Great and terrible</b><br /><a href="/wiki/Literature" title="Literature"><font size="5" color="white"><b>Books</b></font></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#E6E6FA;" align="center"><a href="/wiki/Category:Books" title="Category:Books"><img alt="Icon books.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/5/58/Icon_books.svg/100px-Icon_books.svg.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="100" srcset="/w/images/thumb/5/58/Icon_books.svg/150px-Icon_books.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/5/58/Icon_books.svg/200px-Icon_books.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="200" /></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:white; background-color:#4B0082; text-align:center;"><b>On our shelf:</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#E6E6FA;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Still_the_Best_Hope" title="Still the Best Hope">Still the Best Hope</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Skeptic%27s_Dictionary" title="The Skeptic's Dictionary">The Skeptic's Dictionary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trump%27s_War:_His_Battle_for_America" title="Trump's War: His Battle for America">Trump's War: His Battle for America</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Catcher_in_the_Rye" title="The Catcher in the Rye">The Catcher in the Rye</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Case_For_Israel" title="The Case For Israel">The Case For Israel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Project_2025" title="Project 2025">Project 2025</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; 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border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—O'Brien, <i>Nineteen Eighty-Four</i><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p><i><b>Nineteen Eighty-Four</b></i> (also printed as <i>1984</i>) is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by <a href="/wiki/George_Orwell" title="George Orwell">George Orwell</a> first published in June 1949. Set in the eponymous year,<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[note 1]</a></sup> it is mainly on the consequences of <a href="/wiki/Totalitarianism" title="Totalitarianism">totalitarianism</a>, mass surveillance, economic deprivation and of <a href="/wiki/Indoctrination" class="mw-redirect" title="Indoctrination">indoctrination</a>. Most clearly modelled on <a href="/wiki/Stalin" class="mw-redirect" title="Stalin">Stalin's</a> <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a> and of <a href="/wiki/Nazi_Germany" title="Nazi Germany">Nazi Germany</a>, it also draws inspiration from the economic situation of <a href="/wiki/Great_Britain" title="Great Britain">Great Britain</a> (and the rest of Europe) in the aftermath of the <a href="/wiki/Second_World_War" class="mw-redirect" title="Second World War">Second World War</a>; a worn-out, almost-bankrupt nation with rickety buildings, cold rooms, empty shelves and mystery meat for dinner.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[2]</a></sup> </p><p>As a somewhat clunky critique of the 'Soviet system' turned up to eleven, it was promptly banned in the <a href="/wiki/Eastern_Bloc" title="Eastern Bloc">Eastern Bloc</a>, which gave it a fillip in being translated into other languages for worldwide distribution,<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[note 2]</a></sup> including behind the Iron Curtain via <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/samizdat" class="extiw" title="wp:samizdat" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: samizdat">samizdat</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup>.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5">[note 3]</a></sup> A cynic can also suspect its 'anti-Communist' message might have led the text being inserted into more school reading lists than its literary worth alone would justify.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[note 4]</a></sup> Its internal language – 'Newspeak' – has led to a clutch of terms to enter the English language, 'Orwellian' to be a shorthand for totalitarian/dystopian systems and 'Big Brother' to become a reference towards any (apparently) omnipresent system of surveillance and/or cults of personality. </p><p>Now celebrating its seventy-fifth anniversary,<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7">[3]</a></sup> the book is still relevant; that while the 'bleak privations' of Airstrip One have not come to pass,<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8">[note 5]</a></sup> the powers of surveillance, propaganda and general paucity of facts have at least in part. It is one of those few novels you should read, or if you really <i>cannot</i> read it (or found your school experience of it poor), either read the 2021 graphic novel drawn by Fido Nesti or watch the 1984<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9">[note 6]</a></sup> film by Michael Radford. Expect more adaptations to come along in the next few years, as it left copyright (except in the US) in 2021.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10">[4]</a></sup> </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Background"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Background</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="#.27Orwellian.27"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">'Orwellian'</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#.27Newspeak.27"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">'Newspeak'</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="#Notes"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Notes</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Background">Background</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Nineteen_Eighty-Four&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Background">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Some works have a convoluted and opaque backstory; <i>Nineteen Eighty-Four</i> is not one of them. Take the geopolitical and societal predictions of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Burnham" class="extiw" title="wp:James Burnham" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: James Burnham">James Burnham</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> (in particular his 1941 work <i>The Managerial Revolution</i>), pinch much of the plot of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yevgeny_Zamyatin" class="extiw" title="wp:Yevgeny Zamyatin" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Yevgeny Zamyatin">Yevgeny Zamyatin</span></a>'s<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> 1921 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_(novel)" class="extiw" title="wp:We (novel)" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: We_(novel)">We (novel)</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup>,<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11">[5]</a></sup> while absorbing the atmosphere and techniques of <a href="/wiki/Arthur_Koestler" title="Arthur Koestler">Arthur Koestler</a> as shown in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkness_at_Noon" class="extiw" title="wp:Darkness at Noon" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Darkness at Noon">Darkness at Noon</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> (1940) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yogi_and_the_Commissar" class="extiw" title="wp:The Yogi and the Commissar" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: The Yogi and the Commissar">The Yogi and the Commissar</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> (1945). It could also be said Orwell's work is a counterpoint to <a href="/wiki/Aldous_Huxley" title="Aldous Huxley">Aldous Huxley</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Brave_New_World" class="mw-redirect" title="Brave New World">Brave New World</a></i> (1931);<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12">[note 7]</a></sup> in which Orwell expressed doubts of how such a hedonistic society would survive long-term as well as questioning the motivations of the novel's ruling class in doing what they did. Not that this is conjecture, either; Orwell wrote essays on Burnham<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13">[6]</a></sup> and Koestler,<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14">[7]</a></sup> knew Koestler<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15">[8]</a></sup> and Huxley<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16">[9]</a></sup> personally and had reviewed <i>We</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17">[10]</a></sup> In some of Orwell's other essays in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, a sharp eye can almost see bones of <i>Nineteen</i> poking through, such as a proto-Newspeak in his 'Politics and the English Language' essay in 1946.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18">[11]</a></sup> </p><p>When Orwell actually started to write <i>Nineteen</i> is a bit more blurry; his surviving notebooks suggest he had started to outline and produce short sketches in late 1943<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19">[12]</a></sup> and told his <i><a href="/wiki/Animal_Farm" title="Animal Farm">Animal Farm</a></i> publisher in mid-1944 that he had started drafting what would become <i>Nineteen</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20">[note 8]</a></sup> Progress throughout was slow due to a myriad of issues worthy of a melodrama; Orwell's London home was destroyed by a V-1 rocket that year,<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21">[13]</a></sup> his first wife died (leaving him a single parent of a small child) the following year as well as psychologically unable to return to his Hertfordshire home due to (apparent) grief,<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22">[14]</a></sup> had to produce 'hackwork' (journalism and reviews) for money to live on until <i>Animal Farm'</i>s financial success and then decided to move to an isolated farmhouse on a remote Scottish island with rudimentary 'creature comforts'<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23">[15]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24">[16]</a></sup> – perhaps not the wisest move for a man in clear declining heath.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25">[note 9]</a></sup> </p><p>Once at Jura, illness attacked Orwell again, sending him back to London for six months, much of the time he was unable to work,<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26">[note 10]</a></sup> a situation which was repeated the next winter. If you want a vision of Orwell in 1948, it is of a haggard, hacking man in a dressing-gown, sustained on Marmite and cups of tea as he worked on his final draft; the clacking of the typewriter within a nicotine fug in a gloomy-looking fortress of a house in one of the most remote locations of Great Britain – deliberately not seeking medical attention due to the (correct) suspicion that it would lead him to be hospitalised again. </p><p>In this race between the reaper and publication, the latter won – just; seven months after British launch, Orwell was dead. </p><p><span id="Orwellian"></span> </p> <h2><span id="'Orwellian'"></span><span class="mw-headline" id=".27Orwellian.27">'Orwellian'</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Nineteen_Eighty-Four&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: 'Orwellian'">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>It is from this work (and this work <i>alone</i>) which the popular definition 'Orwellian' is derived; that if a state is described as such, it is suggestive that they are a totalitarian system in which not even the contents of your head are your own, similar to if a policy is described as 'Big Brother' it is assumed to be regarding intrusive mass surveillance (the British libertarian 'civil liberties' organisation is called 'Big Brother Watch',<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27">[17]</a></sup> for example.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28">[note 11]</a></sup> Other aspects of 'Orwellian' – such as a new realistic expose on poverty might be called such a la <i>Road to Wigan Pier</i> – is ignored.<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29">[18]</a></sup> </p><p>Orwell himself wouldn't have been that surprised (perhaps a bit proud, though) to learn that 'Orwellian' has become a cliché itself which his own 'Rules for Writing' would advise you to avoid at almost all costs. The term 'Orwellian' has also undergone Orwellian treatment itself; in which some folks will call anything they remotely don't like "Orwellian" in an attempt to smear enemies.<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30">[19]</a></sup> </p><p><span id="Newspeak"></span> </p> <h2><span id="'Newspeak'"></span><span class="mw-headline" id=".27Newspeak.27">'Newspeak'</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Nineteen_Eighty-Four&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: 'Newspeak'">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p><b>Newspeak</b> is the 'official language' of the state of Oceania; or more correctly (from the appendix) a <i>future</i> official language.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31">[note 12]</a></sup> In short, it is a variant of Basic English turned up to eleven; where the language has not only been pruned down to the bare minimum of words, but the bare minimum of <i>meanings</i> too, with the general goal to make 'incorrect thoughts' impossible (or at least, <a href="/wiki/Heresy" title="Heresy">heresies</a> blatant, such as 'Big Brother is ungood'). Newspeak is to reduce language to the status of a mere <i>tool</i>; to communicate simple facts and basic needs, and no more. This was only really possible in a society which had no need for <a href="/wiki/Literature" title="Literature">literature</a> or <a href="/wiki/Science" title="Science">science</a> (<a href="/wiki/Engineering" title="Engineering">engineering</a> and <a href="/wiki/Technology" title="Technology">technical</a> terms being covered by the 'C' vocabulary) and desired to make 'normal conversions' almost impossible.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32">[note 13]</a></sup> </p><p>There is a small (and frankly pedantic) debate whether the new terms Orwell introduced were in fact 'Newspeak'; for how (for example) can a 'Ministry of Love' (Miniluv) exist in Newspeak if the word 'love' has been eliminated? Technically, several of the terms may simply represent <a href="/wiki/Jargon" class="mw-redirect" title="Jargon">jargon</a> to represent 'new' concepts or situations. Like the totalitarian systems the novel was modelled on, many of the terms are simply political <a href="/wiki/Euphemism" title="Euphemism">euphemisms</a> ('joycamp' = forced labour camp) but Orwell also coined some new terms which entered the English language, such as: </p> <ul><li><b>Crimestop</b> is the ability to quit thinking about a topic before you reach <i>thoughtcrime</i>. That you accept at face value what you are taught/told without 'thinking things through' and seeing the contradictions, holes or simple incoherence within them. It is perhaps closest to being learned <a href="/wiki/Willful_ignorance" title="Willful ignorance">wilful ignorance</a> meaning that leaders are never challenged.</li></ul> <ul><li><b>Doublethink</b> is the ability to believe two incompatible viewpoints simultaneously, while being aware that they are incompatible (as opposed to merely being unaware of the contradiction). A close sibling of <i>crimestop</i>, presumably used when they are topics which cannot be ignored. In short; techniques to 'compartmentalize' the conflicting topics so they do not cause <a href="/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance" title="Cognitive dissonance">cognitive dissonance</a> and lead to <i>thoughtcrime</i>.</li></ul> <ul><li><b>Memory hole</b> is not strictly a Newspeak term, more a particular device (a huge incinerator fed with rubbish transported via pneumatic tubes<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33">[20]</a></sup>) which became a verb; to <i>memory hole</i> something, you are <a href="/wiki/Burning_the_evidence" title="Burning the evidence">burning the evidence</a> of things which are 'inconvenient' to you; be it photos, letters, textbooks etc. In the modern age, it is also in electronic medium too, such as trying to erase your 'embarrassing' social media history and evidence of past transgressions.</li></ul> <ul><li><b>Oldthink</b> are the views or ideals that predated the revolution,<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34">[note 14]</a></sup> now considered dangerous (such are objectivity, <a href="/wiki/Religion" title="Religion">religion</a>, notions of privacy etc). This is close to the Stalinist mantra of 'continuation of [the] <a href="/wiki/Communist_glossary#Class_struggle" title="Communist glossary">class struggle</a>' which was used to justify the series of bloody purges which ultimately claimed almost all the Old <a href="/wiki/Bolsheviks" class="mw-redirect" title="Bolsheviks">Bolsheviks</a><sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35">[note 15]</a></sup> themselves.</li></ul> <ul><li><b>Ownlife</b> is the activity/ies of a Party member which is not organised and communal<sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-36">[note 16]</a></sup> — it suggests individualism and eccentricity (both of which suggest a habitual thought-criminal) and simply makes the target harder to monitor. The clearest analogy is the 'asocial' category used in Nazi Germany; a catch-all for folks who cannot be booked otherwise but were still viewed as 'undesirable' to the <i>volk</i> and thrown into the camps.<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-37">[21]</a></sup></li></ul> <ul><li><b>Thoughtcrime</b> are beliefs which run counter to the Party's teachings, or a simply lack of <i>genuine</i> belief in said teachings. That unlike in most authoritarian systems – where surface orthodoxy is sufficient – the Party demands intellectual and emotional orthodoxy too. The nearest analogy for this is the 'sins of the heart' <a href="/wiki/Dogma" title="Dogma">dogma</a> in some <a href="/wiki/Christian" class="mw-redirect" title="Christian">Christian</a> sects; where merely <i>wanting</i> to commit a <a href="/wiki/Sin" title="Sin">sin</a> (even if unfulfilled) is in fact the sin.</li></ul> <ul><li><b>Unperson</b> is when a person is not only removed from the present (i.e., <a href="/wiki/Death" title="Death">death</a>), but also past historical records — that they never existed. Prior achievements are attributed to others, photographs doctored or destroyed, nobody ever mentions them etc. While this has been done on/off throughout history, Orwell was quite clearly inspired about how former leading figures such as <a href="/wiki/Leon_Trotsky" title="Leon Trotsky">Leon Trotsky</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_R%C3%B6hm" class="extiw" title="wp:Ernst Röhm" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Ernst Röhm">Ernst Röhm</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> were erased from the appropriate Party's histories after their fall.<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38">[22]</a></sup></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Nineteen_Eighty-Four&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.george-orwell.org/1984/index.html">Nineteen Eighty-Four</a>, via George-Orwell.org.</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/n/1984/1984-at-a-glance">Plot summary</a>, via Cliff Notes.</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/may/10/1984-george-orwell">'The masterpiece that killed George Orwell'</a>, <i>The Observer</i> 'long read'.</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Notes">Notes</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Nineteen_Eighty-Four&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Notes">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; -webkit-column-count:2; column-count:2; font-size:90%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Except the main character admits he's not sure of the date. This is one of the main 'running themes' of the work; Winston Smith is unsure of almost anything, and what few things he <i>is</i> are psychologically assaulted later on.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Sometimes assisted by Western intellgence services.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-5">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Meaning that Goldstein's book is now samizdat <i>within</i> samizdat.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-6">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Some schools choose their lists on the pragmatic criteria of 'what we have in sufficient stock', which means if <i>someone</i> donates to each school a couple of hundred copies, it's more likely to be studied.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-8">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">At least for the vast majority in the advanced world.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-9">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Yes, 1984, filmed in 1984.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-12">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Partly as they are both derivatives of <i>We</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-20">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Then titled 'Last Man in Europe'</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-25">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Getting out of <i>London</i> (and her damp and smogs), good idea. But a self-confessed 'semi-invalid' going to a remote island which didn't even have a doctor? There's a good chance that he only went to Jura because a friend owned the house.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-26">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">However, this meant he avoided Jura during the terrible <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/winter_of_1946-47_in_the_United_Kingdom" class="extiw" title="wp:winter of 1946-47 in the United Kingdom" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: winter of 1946-47 in the United Kingdom">winter of 1946-47 in the United Kingdom</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> which would have killed him.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-28">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Yes, funded by Tufton Street, so turf of the astro type shall be involved.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-31">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Supposed to be in general use by 2050, but as of 1984 it is in no real use past <i>tour de force</i> applications such as <i>The Times</i> front pages which (according to the expert Smythe) were 'merely translations'.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-32">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">If people cannot discuss things with each other, they cannot conspire or 'lead' others into thoughtcrime by accident.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-34">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Presumed to be some time in the 1950s.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-35">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Members of the Communist Party before 1917, and thus riddled with 'oldthink'.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-36">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">With the exception of a very few activities which neither is realistically possible, for example shopping.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Nineteen_Eighty-Four&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; -webkit-column-count:2; column-count:2; font-size:80%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.george-orwell.org/1984/19.html"><i>Nineteen Eighty-Four</i>, Part 3, Chapter 3</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-3">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cooksinfo.com/british-wartime-food/">British Wartime Food</a> <i>Cook's Info</i>, 3 May 2011</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-7">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/inner-hebrides-orwell-jura-artist-edinburgh-college-of-art-b2469748.html">Artist collecting 1,984 copies of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four for display</a> <i>The Independent</i>, 23 December 2023</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-10">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.irwinmitchell.com/news-and-insights/newsandmedia/2021/january/copyright-public-domain-and-george-orwell">Copyright, Public Domain And George Orwell</a> <i>Irwin Mitchell</i>, 1 January 2021</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-11">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/jun/08/george-orwell-1984-zamyatin-we">1984 thoughtcrime? Does it matter that George Orwell pinched the plot?</a> <i>The Guardian</i>, 8 June 2008</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-13">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/second-thoughts-on-james-burnham/">Second Thoughts on James Burnham</a> <i>The Orwell Foundation</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-14">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/arthur-koestler/">Arthur Koestler</a> <i>The Orwell Foundation</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-15">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.walesartsreview.org/to-the-detriment-of-us-all-the-untouched-legacy-of-arthur-koestler-and-george-orwell/">The untouched legacy of Arthur Koestler and George Orwell</a> <i>Wales Arts Review</i>, 24 February 2016</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-16">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/01/30/aldous-huxley-was-george-orwells-french-teacher-at-eton-college/">Aldous Huxley was George Orwell’s French teacher at Eton College</a> <i>Vintage News</i>, 30 January 2017</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-17">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/freedom-and-happiness-review-of-we-by-yevgeny-zamyatin/">Freedom and Happiness (Review of ‘We’ by Yevgeny Zamyatin)</a> <i>The Orwell Foundation</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-18">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/politics-and-the-english-language/">Politics and the English Language</a> <i>The Orwell Foundation</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-19">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://lithub.com/orwells-notes-on-1984-mapping-the-inspiration-of-a-modern-classic/">Orwell’s Notes on 1984: Mapping the Inspiration of a Modern Classic</a> <i>LitHub</i>, 18 October 2019</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-21">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/lifestyle/21383795.plaque-unveiled-george-orwells-animal-farm-almost-went-flames/">Plaque unveiled where George Orwell’s Animal Farm almost went up in flames</a> <i>Ham & High</i>, 12 September 2012</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-22">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/news/hertfordshire-news/tiny-village-hertfordshire-home-george-6996388">The tiny village in Hertfordshire which was home to George Orwell and inspired Animal Farm</a> <i>Hertfordshire Mercury</i>, 20 April 2022</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-23">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://orwellsociety.com/in-search-of-orwells-scottish-retreat-by-sylvia-topp/">“You Can’t Get to Barnhill from Here”</a> <i>Orwell Society</i>, 8 April 2012</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-24">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/george-orwells-determination-to-finish-nineteen-eighty-four-on-island-of-jura-responsible-for-his-premature-death-1396094">George Orwell's determination to finish Nineteen Eighty-Four on island of Jura 'responsible for his premature death'</a> <i>The Scotsman</i>, 26 January 2020</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-27">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/">Big Brother Watch UK</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-29">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/nov/11/reading-group-orwellian-1984">Do you really know what ‘Orwellian’ means?</a> <i>The Guardian</i>, 11 November 2014</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-30">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22233197/orwellian-definition-george-orwell-1984-politics-english-language-josh-hawley-donald-trump-jr">The word “Orwellian” has lost all meaning</a> <i>Vox</i>, 16 January 2021</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-33">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.vox.com/2015/6/24/8834989/when-the-pneumatic-tube-carried-fast-food-people-and-cats">The golden era of the pneumatic tube — when it carried fast food, people, and cats</a> <i>Vox</i>, 24 June 2015</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-37">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://arolsen-archives.org/en/about-us/statements/stigmatized-their-whole-lives-long/">Stigmatized their whole lives long</a> <i>Arolsen Archives</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-38">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/the-photo-book-that-captured-how-the-soviet-regime-made-the-truth-disappear">The Photo Book That Captured How the Soviet Regime Made the Truth Disappear</a> <i>The New Yorker</i>, 15 July 2018</span> </li> </ol></div></div>    </div></div><div class="printfooter">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Nineteen_Eighty-Four&oldid=2719807">https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Nineteen_Eighty-Four&oldid=2719807</a>"</div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a 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