1984 book review

1980 was the year when I first had read George Orwell’s dishearteningly gloomy novel, 1984. At that time, I recognized the danger of fascism, but felt that as a US citizen, I had nothing to worry about. But, times have changed. Almost 80 years after 1984 was first published, and as a US citizen, I feel that I do have a lot to be concerned about today. So, I have read 1984 for a second time, and this time I could identify with many of the characters. Here is our 1984 book review and book banter!

George Orwell wrote 1984 way back in 1948. Back then, the world was recovering from World War II, when the fascist German regime had been swarming throughout Europe. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, the German rulers used many of the tyrannical techniques that George Orwell would later describe in his novel, 1984.

Despite the antiquated technologies that existed in 1948, Orwell accurately predicted large television screens that the Big Brother state installed on everyone’s walls. In addition, the characters were always aware that ‘Big Brother’, or the state, was using those television screens to monitor everything they did and everything they thought.

Predictably, the ruling party had specific characteristics, which matched the attributes that all tyrannical rulers possess. In addition, Big Brother, who was really a contrived figurehead of the ruling party, used specific strategies to keep the populace in check and easy to control.

The government lied to their citizens about everything. They claimed to be fighting wars with imaginary enemies to be keep their citizenry afraid and loyal. More importantly, they demonized people who were different from them, using lies and hateful stereotypes.

Shockingly, we see those same attributes and strategies in our own government, right here in the United States of America in 2026. Today, the leader of our federal government tells lies, and completely obliterates the truth when the truth is inconvenient for him. In addition, he demonizes people with different skin colors, different ethnicities, and unfamiliar names—just like the Big-Brother-state did in 1984!

Winston Smith is the principle protagonist of 1984. He worked at the Ministry of Truth, where his responsibilities were to ‘update’ historical documents, newspaper articles, or anything else that didn’t reflect Big Brother’s idealized views.

In other words, Smith created pleasant-sounding, government-pleasing lies and rewrote history. The goal was to make life in the ruling party’s regime seem wonderful, and to make every other previous way of life seem bad. Unfortunately, they succeeded well enough that nobody had an accurate picture of history or how their tyrannical society compared with other regimes.

In my opinion, Winston Smith seemed like a really nice guy, and one who I might have been able to relate to. However, he had very dark, disturbing thoughts, which he slowly revealed to the other characters which he interacted with in this novel.

I believe the author intended to show that Smith could have been any one of us, if we lived under a similar authoritarian regime. Unfortunately, even though Smith was generally not happy, he seemed to blindly accept his fate, just like other members in his society.

This trailer for the 1984 film adaptation captures the slow-burn psychological terror that Winston Smith, as well as all the other characters, faced in their world. It was an existence of constant surveillance and never-ending lies.

Because I don’t want to reveal too much about this novel, I won’t describe specific characters. Instead, I’ll just note that Winston Smith was unhappily married, but he also had a girlfriend.

Initially, Smith was strongly attracted to his girlfriend. But, at the same time, he had macabre fantasies about that same girl. In addition, Smith, who seemed like a nice guy (and he actually was a pretty nice fellow), also had gruesome fantasies of how he might eliminate his wife to get out of his unhappy marriage.

Of course, Smith had co-workers at the Ministry of Truth, and he also interacted with other government employees. Yet, despite knowing lots of co-workers, Smith had no real friends.

Why was Smith friendless? Because he couldn’t trust anybody, and nobody else could trust Smith, either. In fact, in this oddly obedient and loyal society, even children could report their parents to Big Brother for ‘treasonous’ acts that they committed in private!

The society that Smith lived in severely punished dissenters, or any other nonconformist. Big Brother might send rebellious dissenters to special labor camps, or they might just disappear into the ‘system’. Or, they might permanently disappear, if you know what I mean.

Big Brother did not tolerate any disloyalty.

In the novel 1984, Big Brother was personified by a very large picture of a stern but handsome middle-aged man. This man might have actually existed at one time. Or, the state might have created him to personify the idealized leadership of the ruling party.

The state plastered large posters of the stern and watchful Big Brother everywhere. Smith felt uneasy whenever he walked by a poster of Big Brother. Eerily, he felt that Big Brother’s alert eyes were watching and following his every movement. In most cases, Winston’s perceptions were correct—the state was probably monitoring him.

At any rate, Big Brother was always watching Winston. Not surprisingly, everybody else was being watched, too. Shockingly, even the watchers were probably being observed, at all times.

Underneath the image of Big Brother, Winston observed this phrase:

Big Brother is Watching You.

And yes, Big Brother, or the state, was watching his every facial expression and his every eye movement. Sounds creepy!

But, Big Brother (and the state) demanded loyalty from their citizens. All citizens had to praise Big Brother. And, they were trained to feel that only Big Brother could keep them safe. Shockingly, it was only Big Brother who could make them happy.

Today, in 2026, does Big Brother’s characteristics from this novel sound familiar? Well, as a U.S. citizen, they sure do sound familiar to me!

In this 1948 novel, Big Brother used three slogans (always printed in all-caps). These slogans were essential for the survival of the state. They were:

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

The state was always at war with another country. The reasons for war were completely fabricated, but citizens were very afraid of their enemy and knew that only Big Brother could keep them safe from annihilation.

In addition, the ideal way for a citizen to have a good life in Big Brother’s state was to be misinformed or ignorant about reality. The state’s mantra to its citizens was: don’t worry about the lies, don’t worry about the science—just obey Big Brother and you will be safe.

In fact, in the novel, the state eliminated scientific thought, and repurposed scientists to focus on warfare and surveillance. Does that sound familiar today? Today, our current ruling elites regularly persecute scientists and scientific thought.

This is a film adaptation of 1984. Just like the novel, this film adaptation portrayed a bleak existence. In order to show how very disturbingly bleak tyrannical rule can be, they portrayed the living environment to be gritty and falling apart. However, I felt that in the novel, the actual environment where people lived and worked was more functional, and not falling apart like the movie shows. Either way, the bleakness of tyranny is portrayed as being very grim.

In 1980, when I first read 1984, I didn’t like the book. The imagery was so bleak, and to me the characters seemed so unrealistic and so one-sided, that I couldn’t identify with it.

Of course, I did suspect that Nazi Germany had many of those elements, as well as other authoritarian countries from the past. However, I was a United States citizen, and at that time I never imaged, or couldn’t even comprehend, that the United States of America might ever fall prey to a tyrant!

But, today in 2026, I believe I was wrong. After I finished reading 1984 in 2026, I realized that I am seeing many of the same signs of tyranny in the United States that Winston observed in his 1984 society.

What could Winston Smith have done?

As I read 1984, I felt an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and resignation from Winston Smith. The sense of submission and acquiescence to Big Brothers was felt by almost all the other characters in this novel, too. Even members of the ruling party portrayed a sense of despairing resignation.

That almost desperate submission to tyranny is what made 1984 so bleak to read. This book isn’t an uplifting, or pleasant book to read. In fact, it was unpleasant, but at the same time, it was all too real.

So, in 2026, what can we do, especially in the United States, if tyranny overtakes us? Other than continue to vote (as long as we continue to have that right), I don’t know what else we can do.

Unfortunately, I believe the United States has already been overtaken by tyranny. Their coup was successful, and their takeover was quicker than I imagined. They have already dismantled many of the building blocks that once made our country great, that once made our country a beacon to all people who sought freedom.

Shockingly, the current ruling party in the United States displays many of the same characteristics as the Big Brother state in 1984. For instance, our Big Brother lies about everything.

Without our independent, reliable news media, U.S. citizens wouldn’t know what is really happening in the world or in our country. But, our Big Brother would like to eliminate any media outlet that reports unflattering and unapproved news.

In addition, our own Big Brother, here in the United States, wants us to be completely dependent on him. In 2026, our Big Brother fabricated reasons to invade a foreign, sovereign country, and murder their innocent children and citizens. It’s startling, but it is happening right now!

So be forewarned: if you decide to read 1984 today, you might be surprised about how familiar 1984‘s Big Brother sounds. In the United States, we are experiencing Big Brother today.

FINAL VERDICT

I was very disappointed after first reading 1984 in 1980. However, things have really changed, especially here in the United States. Today, I still found 1984 to be a disturbingly unpleasant book to read, but it was also very eye-opening, in a chilling sort of way.

The reason I found 1984 to be a chillingly frank and realistic book today, is because the political climate in the United States seems to match many of the tenants espoused by the Big Brother state.

Tragically, we are watching the genesis of an authoritarian regime, right here in the United States. Despite that reality, the idea of our government being seduced and hijacked by fascism still seems unthinkable to me.

But, I have to face reality. Many of the tactics used and the tenants espoused by our government were described, sometimes poetically, and sometimes profanely, by Orwell’s novel, 1984.

One aspect of this novel that I didn’t like was the repetitive style of writing. It seems as though the author wanted to explain various forms of government, especially tyrannical governments, through the characters.

In that regard, the author succeeded. Unfortunately, I found that constant repetition to be tedious, and made the novel more boring than it might have been!

I believe Orwell intentionally and successfully conveyed the message that as individuals, there is not much that any of us can do to combat a fascist take-over (other than vote and peacefully protest, of course). In 1984, some characters retained a glimmer of hope that they could make a change, but that glimmer was promptly and decisively extinguished by the elite ruling party.

Today in the United States, the authorities are systematically and violently counteracting many peaceful protests. In the near future, who knows whether they will allow us to vote, or give us an accurate accounting of our voting. Who knows the future—I certainly don’t!

Despite the bleakness and overwhelming hopelessness portrayed in 1984, it it still an important, must-read book for any citizen of the world. It’s a grim reminder of the seductive danger of authoritarianism, and why we would be wise to avoid it at any cost!

The complete 1956 film adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984. Very dark. Very disturbing.

Thanks for reading our 1984 book review. If you’ve already read the book, or have seen the film adaptations, please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Content and photos by Doug Martin and Our Book Banter.