Recently, I tackled the novel 1984 by George Orwell as a part of my summer work for Maile LaPenna’s HL Lang & Lit course. Typically, summer assignments are dreadful, tedious, irritating, and just dull overall. However this novel turned out to be quite revealing. Orwell takes a deep dive into the ‘dystopian’ world of surveillance, but is it really that dystopian?

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”

This quote automatically challenges your thinking, in the sense that you never really have control over anything. Everyone has power above you and they control everything; in reality, it is an inspirational quote. This quote shows how the Party, a political party solely based on controlling the civilians, is trying to rewrite history in an attempt to control the citizens of their world. When I first read this quote, I thought about how Orwell wrote this book in 1948, and this is how he thought the world might look in 1984. However, he really is not that far off of how life currently looks. The quote has a value of truth to it. “If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.”

This quote gives the analogy that people cannot keep their mouths shut. It’s how secrets always get out, and drama unfolds. If you have a secret and you really do not want anyone to know, you have to act like it’s not true. Pretend it’s not there and you can give yourself the illusion it’s false. Fake it ‘til you make it.

“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”Arguably the most iconic quote in the novel: This illogical slogan is the Party’s number one phrase. It shows the ability to hold two contradictory beliefs and accept both as a truth. Orwell emphasizes how governments can easily manipulate language and reality to maintain their power and deceive civilians. This quote makes you question what the truth really is.“In the end, the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it.”The first moment I read this quote, I highlighted a lot, and added sticky notes of straight confusion. The quote illustrates the Party’s control over everyone’s reality. You have absolutely no control over any type of reality. The party seeks to ruin the objective truths in order to maintain its power. This quote serves as a reminder that protecting your objective truth is necessary in order to preserve your individuality. “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face– forever.”
This quote didn’t even have that much significance in the book, it really wasn’t that relevant. However, this is how life feels like right now, especially in America where the country is outstandingly divided. It feels like our generation is going to have such a difficult time going through adulthood because of how it’s being set up for us. Considering 55% of Gen Z has a diagnosed mental health condition, that already leaves them divided from other generations. As well as 53% of Gen Z believe higher costs are a “barrier.” The quote makes the reader think about their personal life, and if it really does correlate to our future. Think back to 1948 when Orwell was writing this book post World War II, and wonder if he did see the future in a correct perspective. Fears can become reality if we are not careful, bringing attention to what happens in the current day and age can assist with keeping our communities successful.