1984
April 18th 2006 11:51
I just saw V for vendetta and it’s an absolutely excellent movie, I think everyone should see it. It reminded me very much of George Orwell’s book 1984 so I thought that I should do a post about the book.
What’s it about?
The book explores a dystopia (basically the opposite of a utopia-the epitome of what we don’t want to happen.) Its not set in any particular country-but in the book the world is made up of only three countries and they are constantly at war with each other. The government is made up of three main ministries. The ministry of truth, which falsifies anything the government doesn’t like, the ministry of peace, which is mainly concerned with war. And the ministry of love-which maintains law and order (ie torturing people who stand up to the government.)
How its impacted on society:
Big Brother, is actually a creation of Orwell. In the book Big Brother is the symbolic head of the political party, and all over the city are posters saying: “Big Brother is watching you.” Orwell also deals a lot with surveillance in society, every house needs to have a television which constantly monitors their every move.
Interesting concepts dealt with in the book:
I think the most interesting point the book brings up is the idea of Newspeak. Newspeak is the official language of the land in the book. It’s a language developed by the ruling party and every few years they release a new dictionary minimising the number of words in the language. The idea here is that if there are no words for ideas then people can’t think them-which also stops them from communicating or acting on ideas. This concept really raises interesting issues about the role of language in politics.
It really is a book worth reading-the language is very simple and accessible but its not the easiest read. Sometimes it can be really overwhelming with all the doom and gloom.
What’s it about?
The book explores a dystopia (basically the opposite of a utopia-the epitome of what we don’t want to happen.) Its not set in any particular country-but in the book the world is made up of only three countries and they are constantly at war with each other. The government is made up of three main ministries. The ministry of truth, which falsifies anything the government doesn’t like, the ministry of peace, which is mainly concerned with war. And the ministry of love-which maintains law and order (ie torturing people who stand up to the government.)
How its impacted on society:
Big Brother, is actually a creation of Orwell. In the book Big Brother is the symbolic head of the political party, and all over the city are posters saying: “Big Brother is watching you.” Orwell also deals a lot with surveillance in society, every house needs to have a television which constantly monitors their every move.
Interesting concepts dealt with in the book:
I think the most interesting point the book brings up is the idea of Newspeak. Newspeak is the official language of the land in the book. It’s a language developed by the ruling party and every few years they release a new dictionary minimising the number of words in the language. The idea here is that if there are no words for ideas then people can’t think them-which also stops them from communicating or acting on ideas. This concept really raises interesting issues about the role of language in politics.
It really is a book worth reading-the language is very simple and accessible but its not the easiest read. Sometimes it can be really overwhelming with all the doom and gloom.
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Comment by Sisi
Comment by Stanley
Finally, how applicable is the Ingsoc motto of war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength to contemporary times?
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
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Comment by Jimbo
Music Times
Comment by AdamB
I also want to see V for Vendetta. I have heard it is good.
Adam
Fun Facts
Comment by Scott
I saw V for Vendetta about a week ago, it's deffiantely worth a watch. I'm not sure that i agree with how similar to 1984 everyone is saying it is. Sure, they are set in similar worlds, but V for vendetta takes more of the hollywood approach that a couple of heroes can defeat anything, Orwell went for the exact opposite. They are similar, but also very different
Scott
Punk Blog
Comment by Jimbo
By the way Scott, make sure you include "http://" in your links otherwise they won't work properly. I didn't realise until yesterday!
Music Times
Comment by Sara
Stanley, Yeah, the book is scarily relevant even today, especially the logos.
Cibbuano, well your just going to have to tell us all what you think when you do see it.
Don’t worry Jimbo I for one will never recover for the experience of ‘the journey’
Two copies Adam? That’s impressive in itself, and you should see the movie its great.
SPOLIERS FOR MOVIE BELOW!!
We have a debate woohoo!
Jimbo and Scott-not to sound ridiculously diplomatic but I think your both right. Scott I totally understand what you mean, I mean the film is based on a comic book which makes some if really annoying (like the action scenes at the end with V) but when I compared the movie to Orwell I was thinking more along the lines of the actual dystopia that was portrayed as opposed to how things changed. Jimbo-I agree with you in that V was a catalyst-I mean nothing would have happened if the people hadn’t actually showed up at the end of the movie.
Comment by Ashley1984_fan