George Orwell's gift of dystopia

At a time when the Trump bump has sent sales of 1984 rocketing, and the White House labels lies 'alternative facts', Jasper Green reconsiders the political novels of George Orwell.

George Orwell attempted to present, through his novels, the dangers of a totalitarian government. The issue was contemporary for Orwell as many countries, including Germany, Russia, Italy and Spain, were under controlling governments. Orwell’s most well known novels include Animal Farm and 1984. These stories attempted to raise the dark views that Orwell held on the USSR’s ruling communist party.

Many claim that the most terrifying nature of Orwell’s allegorical novels are their accuracy. Contrary to common knowledge, Orwell was not opposed to the ideology of communism, as he was a socialist himself. Orwell’s complaints stemmed from his hatred of totalitarian rule; the USSR epitomized control through fear, which Orwell detested.

Orwell experienced tyrannical government rule through the eyes of the oppressor during his time in Burma in the 1920s. Orwell was a policeman for the Empire in Burma, but he resigned from his role to become a writer. In the 1930s Orwell attempted to fight against fascism in Spain. During the second world-war, Orwell was declared unfit to serve in the military and instead worked as a journalist in Eastern Europe. In the last few years of his life Orwell wrote his most popular novels as USSR-American relations were disintegrating.

Orwell in his books often portrays a society ruled by deceit and illusions of fear. Orwell died in 1949, but his books seemingly predicted the way in which the USSR would exert control over its citizens. The technological advances depicted in 1984 foretold technologies that would be used by the KGB to monitor the population. Orwell unveils the perversion of a system that is meant to promote equality. In Orwell's novels there is normally a governing class that controls their fellow citizens through the guise of protection. The novels of Orwell use graphic imagery to reveal the types of techniques that are used to subdue a population. Surveillance, indoctrination and the constant threat of an enemy increases the citizens’ reliance on the government.

In the novels the reason for suppressing any contrasting ideologies is to cleanse 'anti-revolutionary' sentiment. The powerful way in which citizens are indoctrinated to love the values of the revolution are common among almost all of Orwell's novels, but are especially pertinent in novels such as Animal Farm and 1984. These novels are thinly hidden allegories for the actions of the Communist party in charge of the USSR. The deep understanding of techniques used to suppress a population may have been a result of Orwell's time in Burma. In order to halt 'guerilla activity' British troops would destroy villages and appoint new officials. The excuse of constant threat to suppress new ideals is similar to actions of the communist party when they called for a purge. Orwell’s books of dystopia became their own form of indoctrination for the Western Powers during the Cold War as they were well read by children and depicted the worst of the USSR.

If you're interested in reading more books about politics, why not have a look at the Politics Dept's top ten here: you could also try the English Dept's list of novels about politics, or AJB's epic list of dystopian novels.