Nineteen Eighty-Four
Big Brother's year
Nineteen Eighty-Four is George Orwell's 1949 dystopian novel depicting a totalitarian surveillance state ruled by Big Brother.
The book gave English lasting vocabulary: Orwellian, doublethink, thoughtcrime, newspeak, memory hole, Room 101.
References to 1984 signal warnings about authoritarian control, propaganda, and the manipulation of truth: That policy is straight out of 1984.
Propagandistic distorted language
- doublethinkHolding contradictory beliefs simultaneously
- thoughtcrimeProhibited beliefs under authoritarianism
- Big BrotherTotalitarian surveillance authority
- unpersonPerson erased from existence
memory hole · Room 101 · telescreen · proles · Ministry of Truth · Ministry of Love · blackwhite · Oceania
- JuliaFemale name or coding language
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- dissentDisagreement with authority
- forbidden loveRomance society prohibits
diary · secret thoughts · samizdat · thoughtcrime · defiance · individuality · human spirit · love affair
Totalitarian surveillance authority
- telescreenBidirectional broadcast surveillance device
- spiesSecret intelligence gatherers
- monitoringOngoing observation of something
- watchingActively looking at something
listening · panopticon · denunciation · informants · scrutiny · patrol · face recognition
State controls everything absolutely
- authoritarianismConcentrated, unchecked governmental power
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- tyrannyOppressive, absolute governance
- police stateRegime controlling through surveillance
censorship · repression · dictatorship · despotism · thought control · propaganda · indoctrination · conformity
- 1949Mid-twentieth century year
- fictionImagined narrative work
- classicOf lasting excellence
- political novelNovel about governance
English literature · twentieth century · postwar · allegory · cautionary tale · banned books · literary classic · required reading
newspeak
Propagandistic distorted language
- doublethinkHolding contradictory beliefs simultaneously
- thoughtcrimeProhibited beliefs under authoritarianism
- Big BrotherTotalitarian surveillance authority
unperson · memory hole · Room 101 · telescreen · proles · Ministry of Truth · Ministry of Love · blackwhite · Oceania · Eurasia
Winston Smith
- JuliaFemale name or coding language
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- dissentDisagreement with authority
forbidden love · diary · secret thoughts · samizdat · thoughtcrime · defiance · individuality · human spirit · love affair · hope
Big Brother
Totalitarian surveillance authority
- telescreenBidirectional broadcast surveillance device
- spiesSecret intelligence gatherers
- monitoringOngoing observation of something
watching · listening · panopticon · denunciation · informants · scrutiny · patrol · face recognition
totalitarianism
State controls everything absolutely
- authoritarianismConcentrated, unchecked governmental power
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- tyrannyOppressive, absolute governance
police state · censorship · repression · dictatorship · despotism · thought control · propaganda · indoctrination · conformity · dehumanization
George Orwell
political novel · English literature · twentieth century · postwar · allegory · cautionary tale · banned books · literary classic · required reading · prescient
- Dystopia1984, dystopian fiction, totalitarianism, Brave New World, surveillance state
- political fictiondystopia, utopia, 1984, dystopian fiction, utopian fiction
- satirelampoon, parody, parody account, political satire, spoof
- utopiasUtopia, Plato's Republic, ideal society, paradise, Eden
Nineteen Eighty-FourUtopia
Imagined perfect society
utopian fiction · Island · Star Trek · paradise · Eden
Nineteen Eighty-Fouropen society
Society permitting free inquiry
free press · Enlightenment ideals · Age of Reason · marketplace of ideas
nineteen, eighty, eight, ninth, ninety, nineties, eighteen, eighteenth, nineteenth