Introduction to 1984

Genre and a Few Questions: What is science fiction? Have you read or watched any science fiction stories? What was the story or stories and what was it or they about? What function(s) do you think science fiction serves in our society?

Genre and a Few Questions: Some Answers: Science fiction is a form of fiction that incorporates some element of the future or future technology. I’ve Seen “V for Vendetta.” Some think that one of the purposes science fiction provides is an opportunity to look into a possible future and warn our society away from going down a destructive path.

Genre and a Few Questions: With our author, Orwell, he uses science fiction for this purpose, to warn us and to try and prevent our society from going down a negative path. This type of specific story that often overlaps with science fiction is called Dystopia. Dystopia is a story in which we see or read about a future that has gone horribly wrong based on trends that we see in society today.

Some Basic Concepts in 1984: Totalitarianism: This is a form of government in which a leader or a single party has total control over the populace, including people’s lives, their values, their social institutions, their educations, and many other aspects of their lives. Propaganda, social structure, laws, and secret police often enforce the control this form of government has. Understanding this form of government is crucial to understanding the picture Orwell paints of society.

Some Basic Concepts in 1984: The End of World War II and Communism: Orwell in the novel is critiquing a Stalinist type of Communist system that is a totalitarian regime. Understanding that the spread of this type of government when Orwell was writing immediately after World War II was a big concern is central to understanding this novel. Also central is the understanding of Epistemology, or how we know the things we agree are facts are, in fact, facts.

Orwell’s Purposes in Writing this Novel: The author’s purposes in writing this novel are several. Some of them include, but are not limited to, the following: To sound alarm bells with readers about what would happen if we as a society embrace totalitarianism and the kind of thinking that results from a society that has embraced these ideas. To encourage the awakening of critical thought and thinking for one’s self instead of conforming to what everyone else is thinking. To encourage action in the present to prevent this dystopia from occurring in the future.

A Passage Please review the first couple of pages in 1984. Who are the characters that are introduced so far? What are they like? What is the world that the characters live in like? How do the details of the first few pages of the book fit with the genres of science fiction and dystopia? How does what you’ve read fit with the idea of Totalitarianism?