Is it 1984?

Political language, Orwell wrote, “is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

6 min read

Just now

George Orwell entered my life during high school, when my tenth-grade English professor decided the best way to get young boys to read was to offer a class on science fiction literature. My lack of attention to academics during those early years resulted in dismal grades, with one exception — this class. Bradbury, Heinlein, Le Guin, and Orwell captured my imagination. Whether or not Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 falls into the category of science fiction or prophetic literature is a matter of debate. Still, for me, I received my first introduction to the politics of imagination through the life of Winston Smith and Big Brother.

Fast forward to our current era, and every bookshelf, no less movie release, features a dystopian plot. Fiction from Diane Cook’s The New Wilderness to Leif Enger’s I Cheerfully Refuse depicts heroes or heroines navigating collapsing ecosystems or social structures. The TV series The Handmaid’s Tale, a cinematic adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel, portrays life in a totalitarian society.

What’s going on?