Rewind: Orwell’s 1984

We live in an age of indifference. 67 years on from the publication of George Orwell’s masterpiece 1984 on June 8, 1949, our digital conversations are monitored, humans are denied basic rights around the world and political systems are still anything but fully democratic – and yet, a blank indifference is the defining legacy which we threaten to leave. However, amidst dwindling voting figures and a dearth of political education, Orwell’s ultimate manifesto for rebellion against apathy is no longer precautionary, but all too relevant, perhaps inspiringly so. Orwell, through his protagonists Winston and Julia, reclaims in 1984 the very basis of the human spirit as an act of insubordination against the ravages of reification and anonymity, to assert that “nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull.”

via Rewind: Orwell’s 1984 | Cherwell.org