Novel Project - Super Final Essay!

! Spoiler Warning: This entry may contain spoilers that would really ruin the story. So read the story first, or suffer the consequences of spoiler-ness. !


If Orwell strongly believed in what he was writing, then would he also believe that, like Winston, he was writing to a future that wouldn’t even know of him? Yet the book became so popular that years after his death he is still known for his work. So therefore, he succeeded. He wrote for the future, and got the minds of others to see the government’s wrongdoings and to rebel! He succeeded where Winston had failed. In writing 1984, he wrote that Winston had been found out and forced to love BB. But Orwell, unlike Winston, succeeded in publishing his books and writings.

Although Orwell wrote in 1984 that “you cannot write for the future,” this turned false in his case whether he believed this phrase or not. He wrote for the future, and the future took it in. Even now, many years after his death, his book is still widely popular. What kind of impact has it had on the world? People have studied his work, picking through every detail and writing critical essays on it, trying to figure out just what Orwell was trying to say. It was very obvious: down with totalitarianism. Just what kind of world Orwell imagined to be decent and good remains a mystery. He did not believe in a utopia, yet he did not believe in a dystopia. Did he believe there was some kind of middle ground? Or maybe he would’ve rather just left the world alone and stayed in the freedom of the ‘proles’ of his time, free in thought and in body.

As more and more people read Orwell’s writing, especially younger people with minds that can still be molded, I believe more and more people are becoming influenced by his beliefs. Our government today can be whatever it wants to be, and can show us as much of itself as it desires, but what’s really happening inside is something the people of the middle and lower classes can never know for sure. In order for Winston to be more aware of the government’s abilities to alter the past and mold the future, he had to be a part of it, which he was. Working in the Ministry of Truth, he witnessed countless acts of deceit every day. He worked to change physical evidence of the past in order to justify Big Brother’s supposed truth.

People everywhere are becoming influenced by 1984 and Orwell’s other books. How could they not? Would it not interest someone who has no knowledge of the government’s ideals and actions to read about a world in which the government rules its people’s actions and thoughts? In the end, all that BB wanted was power. Power to control, power to do anything. And as many of us know, someone holding a great power can be easily tempted into misusing that power. BB abused the power, and easily at that. It is not unexpected for people to read this book and become influenced by it. This could lead to change: but will it be a good change?

If more and more people became influenced by 1984, there could be major changes: rebellions, revolting, protesting; while these things are important, they can also be deadly. Like the proles, it might be easy to combine every individual’s voice to become a roar louder than the government, but at the same time, “Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” (1984.) If there were a group that stepped forward to attack the government, would they succeed? If they did, what would happen?

This book has the potential to change the world. How? As Martin Luther King Jr. influenced many with his speech, Orwell has influenced many with his books. Essays, poems, music, anything could be made from Orwell’s inspiring book. One way that Orwell’s words could gain more power is through music. As I was listening to a song by a favorite band of mine, I realized that the words could easily have been influenced by 1984. This, I knew, could influence dozens more people. Orwell’s books and essays are like the seeds of trees planted, and when they spout and grow, the branches they reach out with are like the different forms of inspired works. As long as this tree continues to grow and become stronger, it could become larger than the tree of the government.

It’s not unusual that Orwell has been described as insane. Many think he is, but many also think he was incredibly ingenious. I happen to think he was one of the most amazingly clever and intelligent people, one of few who can see through the government’s disguises and into the horrifying truth within. He was fearless; he put himself in a place where he could be ridiculed and put down, or worse. He continued, relentlessly, making more and more proof that justified his views of the government, producing this proof without holding back. I have been deeply affected by this story; my views of the government have changed and I now look toward political parties with a certain suspiciousness. I don’t know if anything will ever change within the government, but if it does, I feel I will be completely prepared for what could happen.