1984 as an Anti-Utopian Novel A utopia is an ideal or perfect community.
While some writers have created fictional places that embody their idealssocieties, other writers have written satires that ridicule existing conditions ofsociety, or anti-utopias, which show possible future societies that are anythingbut ideal. In 1984 , George Orwell presents a terrifying picture of future aslife under the constant surveillance of Big Brother. This book 1984 is ananti-utopian novel. The main character Winston Smith lives in the largepolitical country Oceania, which is eternally at war with one of two hugecountries, Eurasia and Eastasia. At any moment all existing records showeither that Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia and allied withEastasia, or that it has always been at war with Eastasia and allied withEurasia. Winston knows this, because his work at the Ministry of Truthinvolves the constant correction of news. Who controls the past controls thefuture: who controls the present controls the past, the party slogan reads.
Basically, Winston takes real news and twists it to what Big Brother wantsthe people to know. In the grim city and terrifying country, where BigBrother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically readyour mind, Winston is a man in great danger for the simple reason that hismemory still functions. He knows the party controls people by feeding themlies and taking away their imaginations. The Party forbids thought, love, andrelationships. Drawn into a secret love affair, Winston finds the courage tojoin a secret revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood, dedicated tothe destruction of the Party. Together with his lover Julia, he puts his life onthe line in a deadly match against the powers of the Party. George Orwellcreates an anti-utopian society in the novel 1984 . The society involvesmonitors called telescreens watching you every step you take, love isforbidden, conformity, and your assigned to work at one of four ministries. Inthis society you cant enjoy life or have any fun. After reading the novel youhope that the future wont be dreadful. When 1984 was new, and 1984 far inthe future, the novel struck its most responsive readers as an unprecedentedtorment, an extreme and intolerable vision that stood out (Miller 19). Thebook makes the reader put their head up and question if this is how our timewill end. Orwell creates a book where being different is illegal. In 1984Orwell is trying to present the kind of world in which individuality has becomeobsolete and personality is a crime (Howe 322). Imagine living in a societywhere if you expressed your own opinions or ideas you would be sent to aMinistry of Love where you would be tormented and corrupted. Living inOceania doesnt seem like an ideal lifestyle. In 1984 you see the Party killWinston Smiths individuality. Winston Smith, the hero of the novel, isshown arming himself with ideas against the Party and defying it by forming asexual relationship with Julia: but from the first we know that he will notescape the secret police, and after he is caught we see him undergoing adreadful metamorphosis which burns out his human essence, leaving him awreck who can go on living only by becoming on of them (Rahv 313). It issad that Winston cant overcome the power of the Party. It seems all faith ina pleasant future will be stopped by the Party. 1984 s anti-utopian society isa horrible one. If the future is as dark as George Orwell portray, lets hope wehave individuals that will fight for a better world. Anti-utopian novels open uppeoples eyes about life and existence. Bibliography:Bibliography Works Cited Howe, Irving The fiction of Anti-Utopia 1984 (New York:Harcourt Brace Javonovich, Inc., 1982) Miller, Mark The Fate of 1984Irving Howe. 1984 Revisited (New York: Harper and Row, Inc.,1983)Rahv, Phillip The Unfuture of Utopia Irving Howe. 1984 Revisited (NewYork: Harper and Row, Inc.,1983)
