Nineteen Eighty-Four

Nineteen Eighty-Four

A main part of research was to look into dystopian plots. George Orwell’s novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, was a main choice for research as it became a base ideology for many ideas used in later books and films.

Nineteen Eighty-Four was published in 1949 in the midst of the Cold War and post-revolution Russia, which had become the Soviet Union after 1922 following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. Only four years prior to Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell's novel “Animal Farm” had been published, which was based around the Russian Revolution. Nineteen-Eighty Four has clear indications towards the totalitarian nature of state-controlled communist Russia, as well as capitalist style totalitarian rule.

Covers

There are numerous covers for the novel, and the original edition cover is simplistic in design. This plain design signifies the state-controlled nature of the novel. The Penguin Modern Classics cover (below image right), significantly in grayscale, also has this effect. The emptiness of the cover design adds anonymity and mystery to the novel.

Original Edition Cover

Modern Classics Cover

In the original, green-sleeved, cover the title of the novel is the largest and boldest part of the design, whereas in the Penguin version it is George Orwell’s name which is used to draw in the potential reader. The title of the novel is coloured grey, another representation of the generic, state-controlling, totalitarian premise of the novel. The cover design is of significantly more value to the Modern Classics version of the novel than to the original, as the modern version would have been released into a society largely already equipped with a basic knowledge of the novel or it’s effect on 20^th (and 21^st) century thought.

Influence

Nineteen Eighty-Four became a massive influence on 20^th and 21^st century thought and has inspired many novels and films. Nineteen Eighty-Four itself has been adapted into film twice, first in 1956 and again in 1984.

Poster from the set of the 1956 film

The film “Equilibrium” draws close comparisons with features of Nineteen Eighty-Four. The is set in the fictional land of "Libria" after the Third World War and therefore suppresses all human feelings in order to stop the outbreak of war again. The character of Bale is the leader of a police force who are inspired by the Thought Police from the novel. Libria is also controlled by the "Father", another comparison to "Big Brother" from Nineteen Eighty-Four.

In popular culture, Nineteen Eighty-Four has become an iconic novel and is constantly referenced. Television shows such as “Big Brother” and “Room 101” often draw their titles from characters, locations or events from the novel.

Some argue that many elements within content of the novel are prophecies which have been in part, if not wholly, fulfilled in modern society. The term “Orwellian” has become frequently used to describe a society, film or novel that draws comparisons with the nature of society in Nineteen Eighty-Four, such as a policy of control by propaganda, surveillance, misinformation, denial of truth, and manipulation of the past.

The face of Big Brother, 1984 film

Symbol of the reality television show, "Big Brother"