Those of us of a certain age remember reading George Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four in high school. I don't know if today’s students still encounter it in the classroom —but I do know it is one of the most frequently challenged and banned books in American schools and libraries. The reasons for banning are familiar: its political themes (anti-authoritarianism, totalitarianism), its social critiques (censorship, surveillance), and its sexual content. I am not a fan of banning books. The instinct to suppress a story is often a sign that the story hits too close to home. And Nineteen Eighty-Four hits close to home more often than we would like to admit.
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| Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. |
Orwell’s 1949 novel was not meant as prophecy, but as a
warning—a reminder of how fragile truth can be, how easily power can distort
reality, and how quickly freedom can erode when people stop paying attention.
The parallels to our own moment are hard to ignore. From pervasive surveillance
to the manipulation of language, from the rise of personality cults to the
erosion of shared truth, Orwell’s themes echo through our politics, our
technology, and even our daily habits.
Surveillance & Privacy
Governments and private corporations alike have access to information that would make Orwell's Thought Police envious. Orwell’s telescreens were crude compared to the devices we willingly carry in our pockets. Smartphones, smart speakers, fitness trackers, and social media platforms collect astonishing amounts of data—location, habits, preferences, even emotional patterns. Private companies now function as de facto surveillance states—collecting data, shaping behavior, and enforcing speech rules. Their power rivals that of governments, yet they operate with far less transparency.
Information Control & “Fake News”
Orwell’s Ministry of Truth rewrote
history daily. Today, we face misinformation, propaganda, and the deliberate
twisting of facts at a scale Orwell could not have imagined. Entire narratives
can be manufactured, amplified, and normalized within hours. Objective truth
becomes slippery, contested, or dismissed altogether. Social media algorithms
decide what we see, what we do not, and what we are nudged to believe. They
amplify outrage, reward tribalism, and create echo chambers that distort our
sense of the world.
Language & Thought Control
“Doublespeak” and
"Newspeak" were designed to shrink the range of thought. Modern
versions appear in political slogans, corporate euphemisms, and online
discourse that rewards outrage over nuance. And while we do not have Orwell's
“thoughtcrime,” we do have online shaming and the policing of ideas deemed
unacceptable by whichever group holds cultural power in the moment.
Cults of Personality
Big Brother’s omnipresent face
finds echoes in the fervent devotion surrounding certain political figures
today. Loyalty becomes a test of identity. Criticism becomes betrayal. The
individual becomes secondary to the myth.
Force & Fear
Orwell’s
Party relied on force—intimidation, punishment, and the crushing of dissent.
Modern parallels appear in the use of state power and even paramilitary-style groups,
to silence critics, intimidate voters, or punish political opponents. Fear
becomes a tool of governance.
Erosion of Truth
Orwell's Winston Smith
struggles to hold onto reality mirroring our own battles against revisionist
history, denial of scientific facts, and the constant reframing of events to
suit political needs. When powerful entities redefine reality, the ground
beneath us shifts. Political rhetoric increasingly prioritizes loyalty over
truth. Simplified slogans replace complex ideas. Opponents are demonized. “Us
vs. them” becomes the default setting.
Why Nineteen Eighty-Four Still Matters
Orwell did not give us a roadmap for despair—he gave us a warning. Nineteen Eighty-Four remains relevant not because we live in a carbon copy of Oceania, but because the forces Orwell described—surveillance, propaganda, fear, and the corrosion of truth—are perennial threats. They evolve with technology, politics, and culture, but their essence remains the same. The antidote is the same now as it was then: critical thinking, vigilance, and a stubborn insistence on truth. And perhaps most importantly, the freedom to read, question, and challenge ideas, including the ones that make us uncomfortable. Banning books will not save us from authoritarianism. Reading them just might.
