What Students think about 1984.

[Teacher]

As a teacher and 1984 fan, I'm interested in your take on the novel and its relevence in a modern day high school classroom.

[The Atheist]

As a teacher and 1984 fan, I'm interested in your take on the novel and its relevence in a modern day high school classroom.

Well, I'm no student, and I doubt you'll get many who answer the question. Most of the students here are "hit & run" posters who come in to discuss an aspect then leave, never to return.

Orwell is still relevant on many fronts, but chief among them, I'd say:

Pure English. Orwell was one the most accurate users of the language from the past 100 years. His style and usage is still a great example of writing without waste.

The premise of 1984. This is pretty self-explanatory, with surveillance cameras being installed worldwide, the internet and companies which are tracking our usage right now and that totalitarian states still exist.

The message that power corrupts.

[small_m1]

As a high school student, I feel as though the book should be throughly understood by all high school students. Orwell's novel is thought to be a warning to the citizens that our future could turn into Oceania and its citizens. If we keep behaving like the way we do now, Oceania could be us. I would recommend this book to any high school and college student. I personally enjoyed this book, and the meaning is very well thought out once you grasp the concept of it. The theme of the book is extremely powerful in my opinion.

[mollie]

I am not a student either, but I love this book, and see it as still relevant.

The theme that is really important for me is the use of language to narrow the mind; deprive the people of language and you deprive them of the ability to frame their thoughts, and then to think them.

I think his noting of the way people think in cliches and can be brainwashed by soundbites (e.g. Parsons) to act against their own self-interest, but in the interests of the agenda pushed by the media and their owners should still be of interest to us.

I think that another aspect of the novel that is still relevant is the importance placed on material goods - in 1984 because the people were deliberately deprived of even the basics in order to break their spirits and channel their energies in getting them, and in Western society because we have a huge amount of goods, but are convinced by marketing and our own acqusitiveness and competitiveness to believe ourselves deprived if we can't have "must-have" luxuries.

Also agree with The Atheist that Orwell's clean, crisp style is wonderful, and I think he should be taught as a model of prose composition, as well as a writer of fiction.

I love the completeness of the world of 1984 - it is so convincingly drawn, from the Party's macro-economic policy to the tiniest detail, like the tobacco always falling out of the cigarettes; with every aspect of the Party's doctrine working with another to create the whole - the propaganda, the war, the sexual repression, the deprivation working together to creating fear, hatred, frustration, and despair, all feeding into one another and ensuring the absolute power of the Party.

Another aspect of the novel that I rarely see discussed is the love between Julia and Winston, although there was a couple of threads on it fairly recently, and the consensus seemed to be that Julia and Winston's relationship is just a kick against the Party's power. I see it as a lovely and fragile thing, as all love is, and find their companionship and slightly clumsy efforts to please one another highly moving. I believe that Orwell wished us to see that love is what makes life liveable, and the destruction, represented by Room 101, of this natural instinct and thereby the humanity of their victims, as the Party's greatest sin.

[keazure]

that's a great work, but a bit more serious

[mlovee3]

Being a high school student, i believe that students across the world should read this book. It is a real eye opener and helps you understand the world and what it could become. I think it shows people what to do to help and helps you realize the corruption of the past. I recommend this book!

[FleurDeMal]

I AM a Student (9th grader)
It was shockingly relevant...
I was checking my phone to see if I could hear something strange that might indicate that someone was listening before I dialed for weeks (read this when Bush was still in office). Wire taps---- internet surveillance, employers cyber-spying on job applicants, and government restrictions on the public's access to information on the internet, radio, etc. All these very current issues smell of totalitarianism! Torture in Gitmo, that is frightening too. References to Torture actually were the most sickening in my opinion. Big brother can read all my emails if he wants, but he's not going to learn any state secrets. I don't know, the book made me paranoid beyond belief after I read it (two years ago, after 'Brave New World'). I was just stunned by how much more frightening the world is in reality. Terror fills the internet, it fills the radio, it fills the television. No wonder people arm themselves with nukes and such. Power is corruption. I think it is appropriate to read in a Government class, but I didn't really find any "poetic" thrill in it. But, that's just my opinion. (I read it in 7th grade, so I am uncertain of where I would stand now).

[sayboooo]

As a highschool student, I believe that this book can symbolize many different things. I think that this book can be a warning to the people of our nation of what could happen if we as people didn't keep an eye on our government. Although some people stay out of politics, I think that it is important to vote and get involved in politics because it's when we don't keep an eye on our government, that they take over. I think that America is far from becoming like the goverment in 1984 because we have such open ideas and opinions. Overall, I think that this book was okay. It is not really my type, but certain parts of it did keep me interested. I would reccommend this book to readers who enjoy history. :)

[freckles19]

I think 1984 is very important and all high schoolers should have an undertanding of what this novel means. It was very interesting and a definite eye opener to what the world is now and what it could become. I definetly recommened this book because it is very important to our past, present, and future.

[Silas Thorne]

I think in addition to the movie '1984' being discussed in relation to the book, students could watch the movie 'Equilibrium', which may be more exciting for them but which I think deals with many of the same themes. Bear in mind though, I haven't read the book for a while.

[kitty13]

:As a high school student i thought that the book was okay.

Don't get me wrong because George Orwell is a great writer. He's is very discriptive but, there was a lot of writing in the book that i found to be boring and he could have left out a little of it.

I would have to say though that all high school kids should read this book. It is a great piece of literature.

:eek:

[Ziver]

Being a high school student I thought 1984 was a good take on a future that we neglect to preserve our own rights. George Orwell's writing is also superb for prompting you to think deeper into what he is saying. I also enjoyed how Orwell layered his warnings about the future, giving us things to an eye out for. I would have enjoy seeing more of what Orwell thought would happen to the arts, since he did show them still being used. However he did show the danger of how literature might disappear entirely which is a warning that hopefully will never come true. Over all I enjoyed the book and think it is a wonderful piece of literature to study.

[marilynmonroe12]

In my opinion, 1984 was a must-read book. I highly recomend it to high school students. The novel warns readers of the future based on what has happened in history which is a very important concept for our society to understand. It is crucial theory because as Orwell displays in the novel, the higher class has the power to get what they want and leave the middle and especially the lower, to suffer. If we don't talk about history and it isn't recorded, it will happen again, which is the point that I think Orwell is trying to get across to us. Our society can't be brainwashed and blinded by what is going on with our government. Personally, I thought this novel was an real eye opener and it made me realize the importance of knowing what is going on in our society.

[The Atheist]

As a teacher and 1984 fan, I'm interested in your take on the novel and its relevence in a modern day high school classroom.

Well, you're getting lots of answers, in fact, which is great!

Interesting comments too, loving seeing kids reading it and learning something about the way the world works.

[mimi578143]

I honestly think every highschool student should read 1984. Orwell actually predicted a lot right, which I find frightening. Such as the telescreens...look around our society. We have cameras everywhere. In Manhattan alone, there are around 2400 cameras! He obviously did not get every little things right, but he wrote a real "eye-opener" as to what our society can turn into. In my honest opinion, I liked 1984. When I first opened it, I thought it was awful. Eventually, it started to pick up and i didn't want to put it down. 1984 is a MUST READ! ;)

[neilgee]

I remember first reading it at school and 1984 was still about a decade away so it was a truly chilling vision of the future.

Reread it again a few years ago and I was struck by the fact that I'd completely forgotten about the whole chapters of politics that are in there, they had been lost on me completely.

[Basketball09]

As a high school student, I did not love the book, but I think it is very important. Orwell makes many points as to what the future withheld, such as being watched. This book is important because it teaches us that if we don't know what our past was like how do we know if we are better off now. Another thing that is important, is you need to know the past so the bad things don't repeat. Overall I thought this was an important book, and that you shouldn't just read it, you need to grasp to concept as well. I would recommend this book for someone in high school, as long as you get the lesson at hand you will like it!

[storcaccekr13]

I think that the book was extremly slow in the begining. It was boring and hard to get threw but toward the middle it got alot more exciting and easy to read. I give the second half two thumbs up.

[JBI]

Well, you're getting lots of answers, in fact, which is great!

Interesting comments too, loving seeing kids reading it and learning something about the way the world works.

Meh, the book is a fantasy, and not a particularly good one. The truth is, the world does not look like that, and that is merely a Western fantasy used to scare people into line - in application Orwell is used as justification for different agendas - namely, anti-North Korean movements in application today, but previously anti-Communist, and Chinese, and anti-Cuban movements as a way of both instilling fear, and othering people in the name of "freedom" (ironically, perhaps).

Truth be told, autocracy is hardly as simple, limited, or phantasmological as the Orwellian model. The book has been given too much credit - notably because of its simple prose style, and its ease in quotation, which makes every half-literate moron able to quote big brother and shout "totalitarianism, police state!"

If you want the real way the world works, I would recommend merely reading your newspaper, to find out the simple fact that the Orwellian model has never been the case, and the Innis model as outlined in The Bias of Communications is far more apt - or perhaps reading Chomsky, notably The Manufacture of Consent.

Really, the book is a tedious joke used by arrogant people (mostly bigots, and almost always antagonistic in baring) to bully others.

[Eryk]

Meh, the book is a fantasy, and not a particularly good one. The truth is, the world does not look like that
It did: Stalinist Russia in the 1930s. "Orthodoxy is unconsciousness" and duck-speak--yes, fanaticism does look like that. Arendt and Orwell assumed that there would be oligarchies who could control information and North Korea fits the bill to Orwellian perfection.

[JBI]

It did: Stalinist Russia in the 1930s. "Orthodoxy is unconsciousness" and duck-speak--yes, fanaticism does look like that. Arendt and Orwell assumed that there would be oligarchies who could control information and North Korea fits the bill to Orwellian perfection.

Did you grow up in Stalinist Russia in the 1930s? What about North Korea - I assume you not only have visited it, but have lived there and felt it first hand - how then can you know how everything fits so nicely?

I don't doubt that there were limitations on freedoms, and oppressive aspects in society, but does that really mean a fulfillment of an Orwellian diagram.

Western perspectives on power have always been a bit ambivalent - for instance, the First Emperor of China has always been looked favorably upon as a great achiever in Western historical scholarship - ironically though, he was the model for none other than Mao, a figure who sought to impose his practices on modern China, with similar success - how then is Mao viewed as a dictator, and Qing Shi Huang Di as a great ruler?

In the same sense, Western historiography has favored Chang Kai Chiek, despite him being a fascist dictator (he was a tyrant even before becoming a dictator of Taiwan, with the help of US handouts of course) and instilled crackdowns comparable to those committed on the mainland - the question of freedom of communications again was just as limited - which one then fits the Orwellian model better?

In that sense, the whole notion of freedom, notably in US policy, has made good use of Orwellian scare tactics as a means of imposing an Americanization - namely, you are free if you submit to us - policy. The real regimes though are hardly less free - are we to take, for instance, the US as the prime example of freedom, and North Korea as the opposite? Hell, the US handed over not only handouts, but supported the regime of Mobutu in Zaire (Congo) for the longest time, as a ward against communism, and its unfree policies. There's no problem taking down as oppressive a regime as Allende's in Chile, as it is clearly against freedom in all its forms, and sticking in a freedom loving Pinochet, no?

This is merely application, but the 1984 mythology is behind all of this - the goal of the presses in "democracy" as seen can easily be equated to a propaganda mill ripping on the "unfree" countries, ironically, tending in the case of American policy, to be the most free, or the ones most progressive. This fear of Orwellianism, and this zealous attempt at stopping Orwell's vision from being a reality has in truth warped into an almost farcical (however depressing) game of inverse practice - we justify creating Orwellian models on the grounds of destroying them (and ceasing oil and whatnot in the process).


But what is really working at hand here? It would seem that the communist states had been the ones with the largest underground movements and corruption - the so called Orwellian imaginations end up ironically being the places with the strongest sense of dissent - just reading Socialist Realism from Stalinist Russia paints a strange picture - ironically it would seem the most complacent and conquered viewpoints come from those places which we deem freest - think about it - people knew in those Soviet countries that the press was putting own propaganda - they knew not to trust it, and they knew the limitations of the truth, and therefore, we not as crushed into Orwellian complacency and acceptance as would seem - on the other hand, people in the US right now read the Times or the Post without much thought for its validity - or at least didn't until recently or in left-circles (dismissed of course as socialist propagandists) - which one then fits the totalitarian model more closely? The "free" country where people walk around without questioning and merely fall in line without any central control agency running things, or the "unfree" model, where people know the limitations of freedom, and question things, but merely realize that government centralization and control is a part of life.

In that sense, we use Orwell again in judging North Korea as a regime, but do we turn around and say, "with all our (meaning the US, and to a lesser extent other Western countries Canada in a minor sense included) freedom did we not hit them first, as in, when we pulled out of the Korean peninsula at the end of the Korean war, did we not target their crops starving millions of people because they were "communist" and therefore deserved to die? Who then is more complacent in that regard?

Perhaps if the Orwellian model worked, we would see these regimes countries being the most aggressive, or repressive - but, from my understanding of the world, it has been the free regimes - the US, England, France, the former British Empire, which have had countless aggressive actions, and have, historically, acted without questioning themselves. Which one is more Orwellian then? Just looking at the strength of the Polish underground presses from the Communist Era gives a sort of idea of the actual dialog that occurred there, questioning things.


I hate to say this, but Orwell merely was trying to explain a phenomenon of aggression, but simplified things as a means of constructing what was later interpreted as a "good and bad". The truth is, the world is far more complex, and there are a lot more things going on. It isn't a matter of a dictator repressing and suppressing - that isn't necessary - an Obama, or Reagan as a better example perhaps, is far craftier, and equally if not more effective in application. That is why I say it is a fantasy - because in application the book becomes a tool for people to justify the same policies that the book tries to explain as caused by this lack of freedom in the first place.

[Eryk]

Did you grow up in Stalinist Russia in the 1930s? What about North Korea - I assume you not only have visited it, but have lived there and felt it first hand - how then can you know how everything fits so nicely?

I don't doubt that there were limitations on freedoms, and oppressive aspects in society, but does that really mean a fulfillment of an Orwellian diagram.



Actually, the situation in North Korea is worse than Orwellian. Winston could roam prole neighborhoods, visit a prostitute and rent a room there. This is not humanly possible in Pyongyang, where every minute of one's life is regimented and everyone has to be home before curfew, when the lights are turned off.

Everything in the book is based on what Orwell read, his discussions with refugees, and aspects of his life (BBC censorship, Ministry of Information as the architectural inspiration for Minitrue, etc.). It's not a fantasy, as you say, it's a reality that "unpersons" were airbrushed out of photographs in the USSR. He wasn't writing a prophetic "diagram". He wrote about the recent past and present.

And no, I did not grow up in Stalinist Russia. It's a dumb question.

[JBI]

Actually, the situation in North Korea is worse than Orwellian. Winston could roam prole neighborhoods, visit a prostitute and rent a room there. This is not humanly possible in Pyongyang, where every minute of one's life is regimented and everyone has to be home before curfew, when the lights are turned off.

Everything in the book is based on what Orwell read, his discussions with refugees, and aspects of his life (BBC censorship, Ministry of Information as the architectural inspiration for Minitrue, etc.). It's not a fantasy, as you say, it's a reality that "unpersons" were airbrushed out of photographs in the USSR. He wasn't writing a prophetic "diagram". He wrote about the recent past and present.

And no, I did not grow up in Stalinist Russia. It's a dumb question.

So you admit that everything you have said lacks direct experience, as is filtered through other mediums.

In other words, your projection of North Korea is limited to what you know from reading your news paper reports - it is filtered, and modified to suit the agenda of the paper. How then can you verify its validity? Have you ever been to Pyongyang? Have you lived there? Have you spoken to people there? Very few people have visited there, and all of them seem to have come with agendas.

In retrospect, Stalinist newspapers were full of claims of tens of millions of Americans dying from famine caused by the Great Depression - are those accurate?

Or better yet, take my example of Mobutu, a much loved figure in his time in America, and his regime in the Congo - a country which is now, after his death, in a state of utter chaos beyond anything imaginable in North Korea.

Look at how Vietnamese people were portrayed prior and during and even after the Vietnam war.

Hell, look how Chinese people are portrayed today, especially in American newspapers - with the single most important theme of "Hey, we better watch out, they aren't playing by our rules and refuse to bend over and grease."

At what point then do you become suspicious of what you have heard? Perhaps, or at least it can be thought, that perhaps some people in North Korea have pride in their country, and have a sense of identity outside of oppressed people under a totalitarian regime - perhaps they feel a connection, not unlike a connection felt by Americans or Germans - you merely use the diagram to dehumanize the country, and limit it to the perspective of oppressed, controlled, pitiful waste land.


I am not saying the human rights record there is perfect, and I am not suggesting that the country is an ideal state - that isn't my point. What I am suggesting though is how we limit our understanding, and instead apply a model, in this case borrowed from Orwell to suit our agenda.

This is a country with many people in it, with both shared and diversified experiences. How then can we limit our understanding to that found in a book written more than half a century ago. The reason? Quite simple. It suits an agenda, and therefore is propagated.

[Eryk]

JBI, among experts and international human rights organizations there is the firmest and broadest consensus that life in North Korea is really bad. Amnesty International's criticism of North Korea is not nationalist propaganda, even if it's used as such by hawkish Presidents and Neo-Cons. We don't fully understand the situation, that's true, but this is because North Korea is a closed state with control of virtually all activities within the nation and therefore the people of that nation are in no sense free.

Human rights organizations didn't use 1984 as a template for their moral evaluation, which would have been same if that novel had never been written. The details are shocking to anyone with a conscience:


Ahn Myong-chol, now a banker in Seoul, spent a decade working as a guard in various camps. He can still recall the shock – “like a hammer” – on first seeing dwarf-like creatures milling about in filthy rags.

“They were walking skeletons of skin and bone, with faces covered in cuts and scars where they had been beaten. Most had no ears; they had been torn off in beatings." link (http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization-institutions_government/north_korea_2686.jsp)

[Scheherazade]

R e m i n d e r

This is the OP of the thread:
As a teacher and 1984 fan, I'm interested in your take on the novel and its relevence in a modern day high school classroom.Please do not hijack it to pursue your own personal agendas.

Off-topic posts will be removed without any further notice.

[Leannain]

Well, I'm no student, and I doubt you'll get many who answer the question. Most of the students here are "hit & run" posters who come in to discuss an aspect then leave, never to return.

Orwell is still relevant on many fronts, but chief among them, I'd say:

Pure English. Orwell was one the most accurate users of the language from the past 100 years. His style and usage is still a great example of writing without waste.

The premise of 1984. This is pretty self-explanatory, with surveillance cameras being installed worldwide, the internet and companies which are tracking our usage right now and that totalitarian states still exist.

The message that power corrupts.


True. Orwell is one of the Fathers of the English Language. Not because he lived during a "Shakespearean age" when writers, most writers used the same styles and devices. Orwell, leaves behind the facility of creating a work that would be easy on his readers, to create a pool that both leaves people in a daze and increases a person's reflective nature: Lets be honest. You can't but stop to think of every line that book gives to us.

I'm not a native of the English Language. Therefore, the kind of English I'm used to is the modern, everyday English that most native speakers(and writes) of the language use.

I don't have the time to give to "1984" right now(too many other books to read) so, due to it's hard nature - the way the book is structured, mainly the language employed - I've set it apart for when I have time and the energy to read it.

:)

[gibbytheherb]

I think that 1984 is an exceptional novel, and it's written so sadly, that it's still a great read. I think it's a necessity for students to read in school. Though Orwell is not correct in all his predictions, I think we all realize in some ways, he is right, and that, strangely, brings fear to them reading it. To sum this up, 1984 is a great book, and was pretty enjoyable to read!

[neilgee]

Given the references to Russia by JBI I thought it might be interesting to mention the Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin whose novel We is thought to have inspired Orwell's thinking when he was creating 1984.

A quick look at the blurb makes the similarities obvious:

We tells of persons known as numbers living in the One State. All numbers live by a rigid time-table, performing exactly the same motions in time with one another in their all-glass environment.

We is the story of D-503, who is aroused from acceptence of the system by a strange woman, E-330. His transformation from conformity to radical action, his revolt against the state, and his eventual defeat are vividly chronicled in his diary.

Sent into exile twice by the authorities before We was published in 1920, persecuted for his writing, he said "True literature can only exist when it is created, not by diligent and reliable officials, but by madmen, hermits, heretics, dreamers, rebels and skeptics". This did not curry favour with the new Russian regime and he was eventually allowed to leave the country by Stalin in 1931.

Since the ideas of Orwell and Zamyatin are so similar maybe 1984 has more real life kudos than we realise.

[Boostie16]

I have to say 1984 turned out to be a better book than I first thought. I thought it started out a little slow but it soon picked up. By looking around at our world, especially in the US, many things that he predicted have come true. I think that we will see even more of his predictions coming true if we don't heed Orwell's warnings. I think that to be sure our world doesn't get to be like it is in 1984 we all need to be active citizens and remember that our opinion and vote will make a difference. If we all say that one vote doesn't matter then no one will be voting and we will end up with a government similar to the one Orwell created in 1984 with one person controlling everything and we will be stripped of our rights.

[artist.2012]

Overall I think the story is a good one. It gets the reader to think and compare the future Orwell saw to our own present and future.

Though it is a good story, I did find it hard to focus on due to how Orwell described certain things in detail -- especially The Book. For this reason I reccommend this to readers that enjoy older English writing as well as those who can focus well. But overall I liked the story and I'm beginning to see things differently.

[1n50mn14]

NOT about the novel, but why are there so many responses from people that fit the following criteria:

a)High school student
b)Joined in November 09
c)have 4 posts...

It's a little strange.
And they write like they're writing a topic statement.
Weird.

[neilgee]

How strange Becca. I just counted and there's nine different students on 4 posts and three on 5 posts all just posting once on this thread.;)

This set me pondering after I logged off last night so this morning I checked if there was a connection between the other posts the "students" had made and sure enough all of them have only posted on other 1984 related threads.

Another thing: they all ignore any attempt to broaden the debate [like my mention of Zamyatin's novel] and sound similar enough in style to have been written by the same person!

[soccergirl6]

Looking over the previous comments, mine is not one that many of you will want to read. But as a high school student, I didn't like the book 1984. I thought Orwell went into detail on many aspects too deeply, especially in the beginning. I understand that good writers use good detail, but I feel that Orwell overdid it. Although I'm not a fan, I like how Orwell predicted surveillance everywhere. He was an intelligent man for knowing and expressing that the past and present equals the future. He showed that whoever controlled the present, controlled the past and the future. His ideals for this book were extremely impressive, but I didn't like the ending at all. He was told that he was going to be shot after he accepted and loved Big Brother, but they left free to be an alcoholic. We discussed this in my English class, and my teacher said that although he was set free, he would later be vaporized. I don't understand why they are going to do that. I thought the ending was completely stupid and boring. It was a struggle to stay awake while reading it. Either Winston should have been killed or served some sort of purpose, because continuing his life left no example for anyone else that was against Big Brother. His life was basically useless after, whereas before he at least helped Big Brother. Which his job at the Ministry of Truth was completely ironic, because he was against everything Big Brother stood for. Also, I didn't like how we never end up knowing what happened to Julia. Was she left to be vaporized too? Again, Orwell should have had both of them killed, possibly even in front of each other, to prove that you shall love no one other than Big Brother. As I said before, I give Orwell a lot of credit for his underlying message in this book, but I do not like the ending or the immense detail. And honestly, I wouldn't recommend 1984 to high school students. Most of them don't even read it, and the ones that do, don't really care.


p.s. You might see this posted under some other thread, I had some technical difficulties.

[walter women]

I thought that the first 50 pages (give or take a few) were very slow. It slowly picked up after that and I found myself starting to really enjoy this book at the end.

My favorite part about the book was room 101. Not only did it give the book a good twist, but it also made the reader start feeling about their worst fear. For me, it's snakes, and hearing about Winston's fears kept me intent into the book.

I also agree with many things the Orwell brought up. I feel that if we do not understand the past then we are going to repeat it. This book is completely needed for highschool students to read. 1984 shows what will happen if we let government run the people. The people are supposed to run government and since highschool students are the future people of America, students like me need to read 1984.

[swimmer444d]

i know i will be criticized for saying this but i don't think 1984 is a "must read" book like every one is saying it is. yes, it did open my eyes a little to what is going on in our world and what the consequences might be, but in the aspect of entertainment i found it extremely lacking. i just kept waiting and waiting for something entertaining to happen but it just never came. this book probably should be read by young people, but i would never recommend it to anyone for any recreational reading. i suppose this book was written more to get a point across than to be entertaining but i think orwell could have made it a lot better. id only give it a 4/10

[Geesta]

1984: Thumbs up, Thumbs down?
-You decide.

I thought that Orwell's 1984 was a very, um, different book. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about the book, but then I got into it more, and I realized many things; I realized how small my problems are, how small I am compared to everything else, how little I matter. But I this book wasn't just something that depressed me, even though it did most of the time, I did learn that there is hope in the world, no matter what problem you have, there IS an answer, a solution to your problem.

This book taught me many lessons, and I think that anyone who is looking to further their education, or just needs help answering some questions, that they should HAVE to read this book.

I give it a thumbs up, but go ahead, read it, then you decide. ;)

[themelodyofrain]

Thumbs up to 1984! This book is such an eye opener and it should be read by not only high school stundents but people every where. It relates to the world as though they were twins. I wonder myself if people every where were to read this book if we would all learn from it and create a better world! :) Kudos George Orwell! ;)

Oops! I forgot to add this to my last post :O Though I liked the book I agree with the others that the book was very slow and there were so many details the book laged on and on. But still the lesson stood out the most overall and that is why people should read this. :)

[Pepperonimask23]

I found the book 1984 to be a very well written novel. I do give this book a thumbs up because of the actual relations from what Orwell predicted to how the world is today. There may not be the same methods and same names for the methods but they do exist today. I found the book to drag on in the beginning but as it progressed it seemed to be more percise and more ableing to read. Overall I had a great understanding of the book and I definately believe all high school students should have a percise understanding of this book.

[Blasphemy]

I'd have to agree with Swimmer444d. In my opinion it isn't all that exciting of a book. Then again this is just my opinion. I would still recommend this to kids across the nation. It is fairly important to realize how close this book is to our lives today. We are always being watched wherever we go. Video cameras at the gas station, supermarket, school, etc. I would understand why a teacher would want their students to have a complete understanding of this book before they graduate. It opens our eyes to what can happen if we the people let things slip out of our hands. Just look back in the past and at this book. Knowledge without history is worthless.

[jbee94]

I do think that 1984 has some interesting points throughout it. The beginning of it however i felt was extremely boring to read and almost made me lose interest in finishing it. I did however finish it and the book made me think a lot about our society today. Also, I stop and wonder what would happen if I was in Winston's shoes and what i would do in various situations. I personally was not a huge fan of this book but this could be because it isn't the type of literature I'm usually interested in. Hopefully students in years to come will take more interest in 1984 than I did.

[Skwurll]

I think this book is very relevant to today's society. Just the surveillance under which the citizens of Oceania are bears a slight but definite resemblance to the Bush Administration's wiretapping policy. I would recommend this book to anyone who believes a totalitarian state could never happen in a modern day country, although I don't think the situation in the book to be entirely plausible, let it stand as a worst case scenario.

Also, I thought it was a very interesting read, except for the chapter on "The Book", that got a little dry.

[m4nboston4e]

The book 1984 certainly deserves to be recommended to both adults and students. It has many underlying messages: Watch the government, ask questions, and especially don't forget history. Students should read this book so that they are aware of both how fortunate they are to live under the government they do and also how unfortunate they could be.

Though many of Orwell's warnings weren't yet relavent in the year 1984, they are slowly becoming mirrors of different parts of the world, like North Korea. It is important to learn about 1984 in conjunction with real life applications so that students know actual exhibits of Orwell's messages.

The book 1984 should certainly be recommended for students and adults alike. Its messages are many and include: watch your government, ask questions, and especially don't forget history. This book teaches us that we are quite possibly on a road to a totalitarian eternity. Though Orwell's warnings weren't yet relevant in 1984, they are slowly becoming mirrors of our present, in places like North Korea. The book should be taught in conjunction with real life exhibits of Orwell's warnings so that students can see actual examples of his teachings. It is important for us to see what could be so that we can appreciate the government we have and avoid the one described in 1984.

[Austispomonti]

I thought 1984 was overall a well written book and is important to read. It's important to read about Orwell's thoughts and see what he got right about the future and what things he didn't get so right. Such as telescreens, Orwell was right in the fact of a much more observed future. If you look in a large city today, you find cameras everywhere. Also i agree on how the government is controlling, maybe not to the extent in 1984, but the the government has a way to only let you hear what they want you to hear.
I indeed recommend this book to any student and adult/young adult who should see Orwell's thoughts. The book should make them do the very thing we do on these forums, question and discuss.

[Travis_R]

While 1984 isn't the worst book I've ever read, I certainly didn't enjoy it as much as I had other dystopian novels such as Brave New World and A Clockwork Orange.

I think Orwell's problem stems from the lack of originality in his writing as well as his frequent use of the comma. When I say lack of originality, I mean not his themes, motifs or ideas for these truly were visionary, but that his prose and punctuation were not up to par with the other author's I've read.

I also don't like the fact that the "bad guys" of this novel do not receive any bit of poetic justice and the world simply remains the hateful, dirty place it was at the start of the novel. Orwell presents the problem but neglects to come up with an answer.

But if there's beauty to be found within this novel, it's within the memorable, well written lines. "You're only a rebel from the waist downwards." is very smart and clever, and the final paragraph is very well written. Overall, like I said above, I thought 1984 was an entertaining read with a theme before it's time.

[gymclasshero123]

This book was interesting and makes you question a lot about the future and people's individual rights. I believe George Orwell is an expert in descriptive witting and keying in on your senses. However at times I thought too much into the meaning behind what Orwell was explaining. I think high school students should be required to read this piece of literature but for me this was not a "cup of tea" kind of book but caught my interest more towards the end. My overall thought is that Orwell is correct in most things he predicted but since 1984 is already in the past I lost interest before I started reading.

[JuniperWoolf]

How strange Becca. I just counted and there's nine different students on 4 posts and three on 5 posts all just posting once on this thread.;)

This set me pondering after I logged off last night so this morning I checked if there was a connection between the other posts the "students" had made and sure enough all of them have only posted on other 1984 related threads.

Another thing: they all ignore any attempt to broaden the debate [like my mention of Zamyatin's novel] and sound similar enough in style to have been written by the same person!

Wouldn't it be weird if it was just one guy talking to himself? Like, pretending that he's a teacher conducting a class?

[The Calling]

I'm a student in college and this book is one that unfortunately escaped me in high school. I wish I could have read this at an early age. George Orwell was a prophet and this book was his magnum opus. This book tells the world like it is and how free thought has been almost outlawed by the forces who rule the world. Each member is society is expected to conform to the rules and regulations set up by people of the upper classes. 1984 should be read and thoroughly understood by all people of all ages, but especially high school students who are an impressionable age.

[20soccer12]

The book 1984 has some crucial themes that I believe is true of our society. Wherever you go nowadays there are surveillience cameras and "bugs". There really is no privacy. Also it is my opinion that our modern culture has also demonized privacy. Even now as I write this anyone in the world can read it. Also history and language is controlled by our government to some extent. Our school books are written for us by our country. He who controls the present controls the past, right. So the view of such countries as Germany or Austria are not written in our history books because we control the past. Overall I believe this is an OK book.

[JackieGinger]

... Even now as I write this anyone in the world can read it. Also history and language is controlled by our government to some extent. Our school books are written for us by our country. He who controls the present controls the past, right. ...

Scary huh?

To add - in some cases the ones controlling the past control the present.

I'm at university, read it during high school by accident (one o my friends/classmates recommended it), I think it can be interpreted from the point of view of the society we live in => it is a true piece of literature (it offers several, different meaning to each society during the times). And it is also is an excellent book if you simply read it, for yourself, without looking for its meanings and messages (which one cannot overlook)

[neilgee]

Wouldn't it be weird if it was just one guy talking to himself? Like, pretending that he's a teacher conducting a class?

Hee Hee. Suspicions are aroused by the first two posts that this might be possible. The second poster said there probably wouldn't be many replies and then as if the first poster took umbrage and wanted to prove a point and the thread just took off and you got this endless stream of "I am a student..." type posts which are still coming in occasionally. Wierd!:alien:

[phoebelll25]

I think it's aweful. I don't have enough guts to fully digest the story. I fear that I'll be brainwashed by G.O himself...

The existence of power itself causes inequality. There's nothing we can do about that.

[ScholarDawn]

Here's my take/review on 1984:

I thought the book was a nice read. It showed me that if we as a society are not careful, we could end up falling into a pithole, which is the system of government present in the novel, from where there is no return. Even the small optimism that George Orwell imbues into the protagonist that the government can and will one day return to an earlier, less oppressive state is destroyed when the reader realizes that though the proles, common folk, can unify together to overthrow the government, this unity will never take place. Hence, the book tells the readers to pay careful attention to what the current government they live under is doing, so that if it ever decides to advance its jurisdiction and/or changes its intentions, readers can act as they see fit and not mindlessly stand by as their system of government morphs into the totalitarianlike kind in 1984. Besides the book's content, its style is written so that it's quite enjoyable to read, and one tends to get into it easier as they get farther and farther into the novel where a more accurate, horrendous depiction of the current state of things unfolds. I definitely recommend it as a book someone should read in high school, even though I read it shortly after I graduated from there.

[Heteronym]

As a teacher and 1984 fan, I'm interested in your take on the novel and its relevence in a modern day high school classroom.

I'm not a student anymore, but I find a novel like 1984 always relevant. I don't believe that the world will ever be a paradise of justice, open-mindedness and equality (although I believe in social improvement), so Orwell's novel will always be a good introduction to ideas about the preciousness of freedom, the dangers of totalitarianism and the misuse of language and the media to shape mass conformity and consent.

Milan Kundera, in The Art of the Novel, dismisses 1984, arguing that what Orwell had to say could easily have been said, and better, in a pamphlet. But I think Kundera underestimates how characters and dramatic situations facilitate ideas being impressed on one's mind.

[WeeBug19]

Well being a high school student my opinion on the book 1984 is that it is a great book. But I think when the government is watching you and telling you what to do is a little creepy. I would say that this is a must read book for high school students because it shows you the what happened in history. I believe that this book is an eye opener if you do not read this book by the end of high school read it on your own.

[#1TexasFan27]

As a student who is currently reading the book 1984, i believe that this is a very good book. Orwells depiction of the Government does scare me a little bit in the sence that you are constantly under survaillance. People dont have much freedom to do as they please. Some teachers may say that orwell was partly correct in saying how much power kids have in the novel. Today kids partly have alot more power than they should. Orwell depicts modern day life more and more as time goes on in the book. :dupe:

[buckeye12]

As your student in high school, I find this book somewhat interesting.

I like the fact that Orwell brings up the idea of individuality and its importance in life. Without individuality, could we really call ourselves humans? I feel that it is one of the most important things that we should put to use and hold onto tightly in life.

Another point, which was discussed in class, that Orwell portrays in the book is how uneducation can greatly affect society. When people do not have the access to information or the means to aquire knowledge that should be under everbody's belt, they lose sight of what is really important in life.

Overall a good book so far. :)

[3GS]

As a High School student currently reading the book, I find Orwell a fantastic writer and nevertheless a weird one at that. I say weird because of many things within his book 1984 that he guessed/foretold that is relevant to today. As an example the telescreens in 1984 correspond to the camera's in our society today, you can barley go anywhere without be under surveillance of who the man behind the curtain is. All in all I find the book a good read. :thumbsup:

[The Atheist]

Great comments all round!

[tokool4puppets]

I agree. This book has a lot to think about though. It may be tough for some people to understand what exactly is going on in it.

[The]

I beleve, as a student, that 1984 is a great book.