1984 and 2024: An Orwellian Comparison

George Orwell imagined a future dystopia that may be America's reality in 2024.

I write articles at Wade Burleson at Istoria Ministries to help my friends and family understand the world through a biblical worldview. I’m a positive, hopeful person about the future of this world because I know Who is really in charge. I’m a pessimistic, honest person regarding human government and its desire to control the masses.

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Good Leaders Rule in the Fear of God

Totalitarianism resists the Laws of Nature and faith in Nature’s God.

I understand the history of empires and human nature because of my knowledge of the history of mankind and the chronology of nations.

Unless there is respect for the ultimate Authority in those who rule over others, there will be no restraint in the hearts of those rulers in doing evil except the direct intervention of God.

I identify with George Orwell and his desire to warn his fellow man about the dangers of totalitarian governments. More Americans have heard of George Orwell’s book “1984” than have read it or the eight other published books Orwell wrote.

Animal Farm is Orwell’s best work. In that book, Orwell satirically and metaphorically, using animals from a typical farm as his subjects, reveals how the 1917 Russian Communist Revolution, led by communists who promised their comrades Utopia if they helped overthrow the Russian monarchy, produced the most totalitarian and brutal Russian government ever.

Animal Farm shows us that the promises of people seeking personal power are worthless.

Orwell’s book 1984 is a lesson in the futility of an ordinary citizen fighting against those politicians of power who run a totalitarian state.

Written while staying at his cottage on the Scottish island of Jura on land he purchased from Animal Farm's proceeds, 1984’s lessons seem even more applicable in 2024 than in 1944.

The Sottish Isle of Jura is where George Orwell wrote 1984.

Naziism, Stalinism, and Communism were present in Orwell’s mind as he wrote 1984, having just come through World War II. Death and destruction caused by totalitarian governments were all around him.

A Summary of Orwell’s “1984”

America in 2024 may be George Orwell’s 1984

1984 takes place in a fictional country called Oceania, which looks similar to 2024 America, though obviously, Orwell has post-war Britain in mind.

The story follows Winston Smith, a low-ranking member of the ruling Party in London, who is frustrated by the oppression and rigid control of the Party, which prohibits free thought, expression, and individuality.

Winston dislikes the Party and illegally purchases a diary to write his criminal thoughts. Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, where he alters historical records to fit the needs of the Party. He notices a coworker, a beautiful dark-haired girl, staring at him and worries that she is an informant who will turn him in for his thoughtcrime.

Winston is also fixated on a powerful Party member named O’Brien, whom Winston believes is a secret member of the Brotherhood—the mysterious, legendary group that works to overthrow the Party.

Winston is troubled by the Party’s control of history: the Party claims that Oceania has always been allied with Eastasia in a war against Eurasia, but Winston seems to recall a time when this was not true.

The Party also claims that Emmanuel Goldstein, the alleged leader of the Brotherhood, is the most dangerous man alive, but this does not seem plausible to Winston.

Winston’s life changes when he meets Julia, a woman who shares his hatred for the Party. They begin a covert affair, always looking for signs of Party monitoring. Eventually, they rent a room above the secondhand store in the prole district where Winston bought the diary.

This relationship lasts for some time. Winston is sure they will be caught and punished sooner or later, while Julia is more pragmatic and optimistic.

As Winston’s relationship with Julia progresses, his hatred for the Party grows more and more intense.

At last, he receives the message that he has been waiting for: O’Brien wants to see him. Winston and Julia travel to O’Brien’s luxurious apartment. As a member of the powerful Inner Party, O’Brien leads a life of luxury that Winston can only imagine.

O’Brien confirms to Winston and Julia that, like them, he hates the Party and says he works against it as a member of the Brotherhood. However, O’Brien is a member of the Thought Police, and Winston and Julia are eventually arrested and tortured until they betray each other.

The novel ends with Winston’s complete submission to the Party and his love for Big Brother.

Oceania’s Government

The government of Oceania operates with four departments.

Orwell wrote of four government departments that controlled the people of Oceania.

• The Ministry of Truth supervised education, entertainment, and the news.

• The Ministry of Love maintained “Law and Order.”

• The Ministry of Peace concerned itself with war.

• The Ministry of Plenty dealt with economic matters.

These four government departments use a government language called Newspeak, which is a controlled language of simplified grammar and limited vocabulary designed to limit a person's ability for critical thinking.

The totalitarian government that works best is the one in which its citizens think least.

A Comparison to America in 2024