1984 (novel)

1984 (in its original English version: Nineteen Eighty-Four) is a political novel by dystopian fiction, written by George Orwell between 1947 and 1948 and published on June 8, 1949. The novel popularized the concepts of the omnipresent and vigilant Big Brother or Big Brother, of the notorious room 101, of the ubiquitous Thought Police and Newspeak, an adaptation of the English language in which the lexicon is reduced and transformed for repressive purposes, based on the principle that what is not part of the language cannot be thought.

Many analysts detect parallels between today's society and the world of 1984, suggesting that we are beginning to live in what has become known as Orwellian society, a society where information is manipulated and mass surveillance and political and social repression are practiced. However, it should not be forgotten that these elements already appear in the Russian novel We (1924) by Zamyatin, which Orwell was inspired by, and which is considered the founding novel of the contemporary dystopian novel. The 1984 novel is, however, much more popular and the term "Orwellian" has become synonymous with societies or organizations that reproduce totalitarian and repressive attitudes such as those depicted in the novel. The novel was a bestseller and has become one of the most influential books of the 20th century.

Society described in the novel

The novel takes place in the year 1984 and following in a future London, part of a region called Air Strip 1, "... which was once called England or Britain" integrated, in turn, in an immense collectivist state: Oceania.

Oceanian society is divided into three groups. The "external" of the Single Party, the members of the ruling Council or inner circle of the party and a mass of people, whom the Party keeps poor and entertained so that they cannot or do not want to rebel, the proles (proletarians).

The "external" They constitute the bureaucracy of the state apparatus (hence the need for strict surveillance), they live under suffocating control and alienating propaganda that demoralizes them and prevents them from thinking critically. The state suppresses all rights and condemns those who do not demonstrate sufficient fidelity and adherence to the national cause to an existence that is little more than miserable, with the risk of losing their lives or suffering frightful humiliations. For this, numerous demonstrations are organized, where the active participation of the members is required, shouting slogans favorable to the party, vociferating against the supposed traitors and giving free rein to the most outrageous fanaticism. Only with fanatical fervor can one escape the omnipresent surveillance of the thought police.

Ministries

The ministries are as follows:

• The Ministry of Love (Miniluv in neolengua, the Castilian version translates it as Minimor) deals with administering the punishments, torture and re-educating the members of the Party instilling a fervent love for the Great Brother and the ideologies of the Party.
• The Ministry of Peace (Minipax) takes care of war-related matters and strives to make the dispute permanent. If there is war with other countries, the country is at peace with itself. (There are less social revolts when hatred and fear can focus out, as social psychology points out.)
• The Ministry of Abundance (Miniplenty or Minidancia) in charge of the planned economy and of getting people to live always on the verge of subsistence through a harsh ration.
• The Ministry of Truth (Minitrue or Miniver) is dedicated to manipulating or destroying historical documents of all kinds (including photographs, books and newspapers), to get the evidence of the past to coincide with the official version of the story, maintained by the State.

Superpowers

The world according to the novel 1984

The world is divided into three superpowers:

• Oceaniawhere Ingsoc prevails, English acronym for “English Socialism”. Oceania comprises the United Kingdom, Ireland, all America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
• Eurasiawhere neo-Bolshevism reigns. Eurasia comprises the Soviet Union (including the Asian part) and Europe (except Iceland, the United Kingdom and Ireland).
• East Asia (EastAsia), where the "worship of death" or "disappearance of self" prevails. Theseia comprises China, Japan and Korea.

In addition, there are various areas of the world that are being disputed between the three superpowers, these disputed territories are the only territories that pass from one hand to another, the rest of the world always belongs to their corresponding nation.

War

The three great states wage an "eternal" war. This war is characterized by the fact that there are always two nations that ally against each other and some nation always ends up betraying its ally to ally with its enemy (this could be a reference to the German-Soviet pact in World War II).

The novel begins with a war between Oceania and East Asia against Eurasia, then it is Oceania and Eurasia against East Asia and the novel ends, again, with a war between Oceania and East Asia against Eurasia (it is not clear how long takes place in the novel, but it doesn't take long). When Oceania changes ally, the Government changes past records to make it believe that its current ally has always been its ally in this war, and any evidence to the contrary has been the work of cabalists led by Goldstein who manipulate the truth to get back the people of Oceania against their allies and make them lose the war.

Goldstein's book (of which it is not known which part is true) says that the three nations do not believe in victory and do not want the war to end, since the objective of the war is to keep the people poor, ignorant and that he transmits all the hatred he feels for his precariousness against foreign countries. Maintaining arms production, practically the only type of production abundant in this dystopia, also causes a continuous state of war between the three superstates, which must continue to maintain the industry at all costs.

The Ingsoc Party

The English Socialist Party, known by its acronym Ingsoc (English Socialism in Newspeak), is the organization to which all people must belong, with the exception of the "proles", who nevertheless constitute the vast majority of the population. The latter are kept in the most abject misery, but are entertained in various ways by the Party in order to keep them happy in their situation. They practically only know how to obey orders and are considered incapable of rebellion; they are granted the same rights as animals and, in fact, barely monitored by the Thought Police: "proles are allowed intellectual freedom because they have no intellect at all."

At the head of the Party is Big Brother, who is the guardian of the revolution, commander-in-chief and supreme judge; but above all the incarnation of the ideals of the ubiquitous, unique and all-powerful Party that tirelessly monitors all the daily activities of the population, to the point that even in the streets and houses there are surveillance devices to know all the acts of each individual ("telescreens"). Ironically, Orwell hints at the possibility that Big Brother is not even a real person, but a mere propaganda icon.

The family is barely tolerated by Party ideology. It is a common practice for young children to denounce their parents of betrayal of the Party.

Party Slogans

The slogans of the Party are:

"War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength"

In the novel an Inner Party member, O'Brien, explains their meaning by reversing them.

• War is Peace: since the war causes citizens not to rise against the state in the face of fear of the enemy, thus peace remains. That's why O'Brien says his true meaning would be, "Peace is War."
• Freedom is Slavery: for the slave feels free to know nothing else, in this way "Slavery is Freedom"
• Ignorance is Force: because ignorance avoids any rebellion against the Party, so "Force is Ignorance," concludes O'Brien.

Synopsis

The main character of the novel is Winston Smith, who works at the Ministry of Truth. His mission is to rewrite history, thus ironizing the ideal declared in the name of the Ministry. After years working for said Ministry, Winston Smith is becoming aware that the retouching of history in which his work consists are only part of the great farce on which his government is based, and discovers the intentional falsehood of all the information from the Single Party. In his desire to evade the omnipresent surveillance of Big Brother (which even reaches every house) he finds the love of a rebellious young woman named Julia, also disillusioned with the political system; both thus embody a resistance of two against a society that polices itself.

Together Winston and Julia believe they are affiliated with the Brotherhood, a supposed resistance group led by Emmanuel Goldstein - a character almost as ubiquitous and omnipresent as Big Brother himself, the 'Enemy of the People', traitor to the Revolution and writer of 'The Book', which Winston reads until he understands the mechanisms of doublethink, the Party's basic tool of domination—and which is actually one more of the Party's control instruments.

Through an intricate story, with themes such as brainwashing, language, psychology and inventiveness aimed at the physical and mental control of all individuals, the totalitarian education of youth, etc., Orwell tells the story tragic and apparently emancipatory of Winston Smith and Julia, who try to escape from a system where privacy and free thought are prohibited.

Upon discovering that the alleged "resistance members" they were also part of the repressive mechanism, the protagonists are locked up by the Thought Police and subjected to torture in the Ministry of Love. Winston is forced to recognize that an obviously false statement such as 2+2=5 is actually true. His strength surprises the torturers in Room 101, but it's all just part of an insane nightmare. Winston ends up, after long and inhuman months, internally accepting that the truth is what the party says and not what his intellect deduces, or even what his senses perceive. In the end Winston is reunited with Julia, who has also been tortured, but both are unable to hold any sense of closeness in their minds and part as strangers. It is then indicated that the purpose of the Single Party had been fulfilled, since in fact the love between Winston and Julia has disappeared, replaced by love for Big Brother, the only affectionate feeling tolerated by the regime. However, all Winston knew was that he would disappear overnight, leaving no trace or any acquaintance, even any evidence of having existed. He also knew what his death would be like, being the only thing he was certain of in all of history.

History of the novel

Published on June 8, 1949, the bulk of the novel was written by Orwell, already seriously ill with tuberculosis, on the island of Jura, in Scotland, between 1947 and 1948, although he had already begun the notes in 1944. In a letter to his literary agent, F. J. Warburg, dated October 22, 1948, Orwell stated that the idea of writing the novel had occurred to him in 1943 and that he was still debating whether to title it The Last Man in Europe (The Last Man in Europe) or Nineteen Eighty-Four (Nineteen Eighty-Four), and he did not rule out another film title. last minute. Although it is known that the final decision to name the novel was due to Warburg considering it a more commercial title, its origin is not known. Some of the theories considered include the date of the centenary of the Fabian Society, founded in 1884, or as a nod to Jack London's novel, The Iron Heel (for the date on which the political party takes over). power), or even a short story by G. K. Chesterton, one of his favorite authors, "The Napoleon of Notting Hill", set in 1984.

On the other hand, one of his biographers, Peter Davison, points out that, although there is no supporting evidence, Orwell's American publisher claimed that it was simply the result of swapping the position of the last two digits of the year in the year. that was written Davison also notes that the dates 1980, 1982, and 1984 appear in the manuscript as moments in the denouement of the story.

Themes of the novel

German flying pump V-1

1984 presents an extrapolation of practices from communism and fascism, especially in relation to Orwell's experiences in the Spanish civil war, such as the events of May 1937, which he describes in his work Homage to Catalonia (1938).

• The Ingsoc, the ideology of the totalitarian state in which the novel happens, is a corruption of Español Socialism.^{[chuckles]required]}

• The “V” of the emblem Ingsoc is a parody of the "V" of the victory used by allies in the Second World War. This "V" is also used in the packaging of the Cigarettes of the Victoria and the gin of the Victoria.

• The "rewriting of the past", work of Winston Smith in the Ministry of Truth, was a common practice in the Soviet Union, in addition to the usual lies in the propaganda of war. In the Soviet Union Stalin had the custom to remove the names of his enemies from the press, books, historical records and archive documents. Such a measure included the writings of such characters, which were removed from the circulation and destroyed. Even official photographs were retouched by the regime's censorship to remove from there the "incorrect people". Victims of this practice were Leon Trotsky, Nikolái Bujarin, Grigori Zinóviev and many other political leaders. The practice of not mentioning Leon Trotsky, despite the great importance it had in the early years of the Soviet Union, also continued after the death of Stalin. In the Old Age has also been used disaster memory, call abolitio nominis in the Roman Empire, something similar to “vaporization”.

• The Great Brother is a copy, even in the physical details of the character, of the cult of the personality of Iosif Stalin.^{[chuckles]required]}

• Emmanuel Goldstein, the "People's Enemy", is inspired by Leon Trotski, being common to both characters (the real one and the one created by Orwell) the following characteristics:
  • Both participated and were important characters in the early revolutionary stages.
  • The description of the physical appearance of Goldstein coincides with that of Trotsky.
  • Goldstein and Trotsky are Jewish surnames, but the most obvious reference is that Trotsky's true surname was Bronstein.
  • The persecution of Trotskyism in the Soviet Union inspires Two Minutes of Hate in the novel.^{[chuckles]required]}

• The change of alliances between superpowers is a caricature of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which praised the Soviet Union with Nazi Germany, and the break-up of this pact by surprise with Operation Barbarossa. From that pact and even the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, no criticism was allowed to Germany in the Soviet press and all references to earlier partisan lines were stopped, even in most non-Russian communist parties that tended to follow the Russian line. Orwell had criticized the Communist Party of Great Britain for supporting this pact in his essays Betrayal of the Left (1941): "The Hitler-Stalin pact of August 1939 reversed the declared foreign policy of the Soviet Union. It was too much for many of the traveling companions like Gollancz (the editor at some point in Orwell) who had put their faith in a strategy of building Popular Front governments and a bloc of peace between Russia, Great Britain and France."^{[chuckles]required]}

• Winston Smith is a historical joke, as WinstonWhen the novel was written, it was an allusion to Winston Churchill and Smith is the most common of Anglo-Saxon surnames.^{[chuckles]required]}

• La Room 101 It is a reference to the 101st Office that Orwell occupied while working for the British Broadcasting Corporation during World War II.

• The confessions of the "mental criminals" Rutherford, Aaronson and Jones are based on the judgments of the 1930s in the Soviet Union, which included forced confessions of prominent Bolsheviks Nikolai Bukharin, Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev.

Opinions of Orwell himself

George Orwell gave his opinion a few times about his novel 1984 and its themes. In a letter to an American union leader he says:

My last novel [1984] does not constitute an attack on socialism or the English Labour Party (which I support). He wants to describe the perversions to which a centralized economy is exposed and which have already been partially realized by communism and fascism. I don't think the kind of society I describe is going to happen forcibly, but what I do believe (if you take into account that the book is a satire) is that something similar may happen. I also believe that totalitarian ideas have rooted in the brains of intellectuals everywhere in the world and I have tried to bring these ideas to their logical consequences.

Rewriting History

Regarding the rewriting of History, Orwell said in his essay My Spanish Civil War:

As a young man I had noticed that no newspaper ever counts with fidelity how things happen, but in Spain I saw for the first time news that had no relation to the facts, not even the relationship that is presupposed in a current lie. (...) I actually saw that history was being written not from the point of view of what had happened, but from the point of view of what had to have happened according to the different "party lines". (...) These things seem terrifying to me, because they make me believe that even the objective truth idea is disappearing from the world. Finally, it is very likely that these lies, or in any case other equivalents, will pass to history. How will the history of the Spanish Civil War be written? (...) However, it is clear that a story will be written, whatever, and when those who remember the war have died, it will be accepted universally. So, for all practical purposes, the lie will have become true. (...) The tacit objective of this argument is a world of nightmare in which the boss, or the ruling clique, controls not only the future but also the past. If the chief says of such or any event that has not happened, it has not happened; if he says that two and two are five, two and two shall be five. This perspective scares me much more than the bombs, and after the experiences of the past few years is not a conjecture made of fools and crazy.

Other opinions

Aldous Huxley, author of the dystopian novel Brave New World (1932), wrote a letter to Orwell about the relationship between 1984 and Brave New World:

Very nice of you to ask your editors to send me a copy of your book. It came to me when I was in the middle of a job that required a lot of reading and reference, and since my poor sight requires me to ration my readings, I had to wait a long time before embarking on 1984.

By agreeing with everything the criticism has written about the book, I do not need to tell you once again how subtle and how deeply important your book is. (...) The philosophy of the ruling minority 1984 It is a sadism that has been led to a logical conclusion, reaching beyond the sexual, and denying it.

This author, in his book A New Visit to a Happy World (1958), also mentions the novel 1984 many times:

It's worth noting that, in 1984, Party members are obliged to conform to a sexual ethic of a more than puritan severity. In A Happy WorldInstead, they are allowed to yield to their sexual impulses without sneezing or obstacle. The society described in the fable of Orwell is a society permanently at war, and the purpose of its rulers is first, of course, to exercise the power by the delight of exercising it and, secondly, to keep the governed in that state of constant tension that a constant state of war demands those who deliver it. With their crusade against sexuality, the bosses can maintain the necessary tension in their followers and, at the same time, satisfy their desire for power in a very pleasant way. The society described in A Happy World It is a world state in which war has been eliminated and the first purpose of the rulers is to avoid at any cost that the governed provoke conflicts. This enriches this by legalizing (among other methods) a certain degree of sexual freedom (made possible by the abolition of the family) that guarantees virtually the citizens of the new world against any form of destructive emotional tension (or creator). In 1984 the desire to be able to inflict damage; A Happy Worldinflicting just less humiliating pleasure.

The psychoanalyst and philosopher Erich Fromm, in an appendix to the edition published in 1961 by the New American Library, concludes:

The books like Orwell's are severe warnings, and it would be regrettable that the reader would presumptuously interpret 1984 as another description of the Stalinist barbarism, and did not see that it is also addressed to us.

In a comprehensive critique of the novel and its effects for the FNS (Field Newspaper Syndicate), Isaac Asimov wrote in a four-part article published in 1980:

In fact, it has penetrated the phobia to 1984 into the consciousness of many who did not read the book and have no idea what it says, that one wonders what can happen to us after 31 December 1984. When the New Year's Day of 1985 arrives and the United States still exists and are facing problems very similar to those facing today, how will we express our fears to every aspect of life that fills us with apprenticeship? What other date can we invent to replace that of 1984? Orwell himself did not live to see the success of his book. He did not witness how he himself turned 1984 into a year that would obsess a whole generation of Americans. Orwell died of tuberculosis in a hospital in London in January 1950, just a few months after the book was published, at the age of forty-six years. The knowledge that his death was imminent could have influenced the incarnated tone of the book.

Meeting of the Council of Europe

In April 1984, a debate began in Strasbourg, the seat of the Council of Europe, with about 200 European and American personalities from the world of culture, politics and science on the novel 1984. Several of the interventions were compiled in the book And I loved Big Brother.

Accommodations

Comic

In 2021, Sarbacane publishes an adaptation by Xavier Coste, published in 2022 in Spanish by Norma Editorial.

In 2021, Soleil Productions publishes an adaptation directed by Jean-Christophe Derrien and Rémi Torregrossa.

In 2021, Rocher publishes an adaptation by Sybille Titeux de la Croix and Amazing Améziane.

In 2020, the 1984 graphic novel by the Brazilian illustrator Fido Nesti and edited by the DeBolsillo publishing house was launched.

In 2014, Herder Editorial published the manga adaptation of 1984.

Television

Nigel Kneale made an adaptation of the same name for the British Broadcasting Corporation which aired in 1954. Directed by Rudolph Cartier, it stars Peter Cushing as Winston Smith, Yvonne Mitchell as Julia and André Morell in the role of O'Brien.

Cinema

The novel has also been made into a movie with the same title, plus other minor adaptations and inspirations.

• In 1956 Michael Anderson led the first adaptation to the cinema, with the same title, with Edmond O'Brien on the role of Winston Smith and Jan Sterling as Julia.
• In 1973 Woody Allen made a free comedy key version entitled The sleeper. It counts on the Woody Allen cast, Diane Keaton, John Beck and Mary Gregory.
• In 1984 Michael Radford made the second film version, with the same title, directly based on the novel. It counts on John Hurt as Winston Smith, Richard Burton as O'Brien and Suzanna Hamilton as Julia. The work is planned to conform to the original character of the text, with numerous scenes that attempt to represent the psychological tensions of the protagonists.
• In 1985 Terry Gilliam made a second free version entitled Brazil. Account in the cast Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Kim Greist and Michael Palin.
• The Hollywood Reporter On 22 March 2012, he confirmed a new version of the novel. LBI Entertainment, the producer of Julie Yorn, and Imagine Entertainment, by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, are the studies behind this remake.

Opera

It has also been adapted as an opera of the same title, composed by Lorin Maazel to a libretto by J. D. McClatchy and Thomas Meehan. It premiered in 2005 at the Royal Opera House. It stars baritone Simon Keenlyside as Winston Smith, tenor Richard Margison as O'Brien, and soprano Nancy Gustafson as Julia. It is available on DVD.

Theater

The actor and director Tim Robbins directed a stage version that was staged in Madrid, Barcelona and Vitoria at the end of September 2009, as well as in Bilbao at the beginning of October.

Another adaptation to the theater was made in 2018, versioned by Javier Sánchez-Collado and Carlos Martínez-Abarca, which was staged in Madrid.

Music

English alternative rock band Muse make several references to excerpts from the novel and show its influence in several of their songs, most notably on their album The Resistance, one of the most successful albums of all time. the last years. In which, several songs touch on themes clearly based on Orwell's book. Its main reference is in the song "Resistance" which is a song composed by Matt Bellamy. It is based on the truncated love between Winston and Julia. The lovers and resisters are persecuted by One Party forces and forced to give up their feelings through separation, torture, and conditioning. When they see each other again, they do not recognize each other and part as if they were two strangers. Love is our resistance...

1984 is the debut album by English bassist Hugh Hopper, whose songs take their names from the ministries that appear in the novel.

1984 is a song by British musician David Bowie for his 1974 album, Diamond Dogs. Written in 1973, it was inspired by George Orwell's novel.

1984 is a studio album by English keyboardist Rick Wakeman, released in June 1981 on Charisma Records. After reforming his band The English Rock Ensemble in 1980 and completing a European tour, Wakeman signed a recording contract with Charisma and began preparing material for a studio album. He settled on a concept album based on Orwell's novel. The lyrics are by Tim Rice. The album received a warm reception and reached number 24 on the UK Albums Chart. Wakeman further promoted it with a world tour throughout 1981.

Human After All is the third album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, where the songs correspond to the emotions that each part of the novel provokes, highlighting «Make Love», the fifth song from the album, depicting Winston and Julia's love affair amidst the clang of 1984 and Human After All, respectively.^{[citation needed]}

In popular culture

Many of the novel's themes are mentioned in relation to social or political issues. Specifically, the expression "Big Brother" is often used to refer to situations, people or organizations that carry out control or surveillance that is perceived as excessive or contrary to privacy.

Music

The Argentine rock band Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota in their song «Divina TV Führer» from the album Oktubre makes metaphorical reference to the novel, in fact, the song's lyrics are written from the main character Winston Smith's point of view. Proof of the latter is found in one of the verses of the song, which refers to a thought by Winston about Big Brother (whom he names as The Oldest Clerk) and his omnipresence in the visual media:

«If I'm not protected by the major employee (who projects my TV all the time)...»

In another of the stanzas, reference is made to a moment in the novel in which Winston asks himself if he can trust Julia:

«I'm gonna exaggerate, my fever isn't that high. This is the worst date (it's a blind date)...»

"2 + 2 = 5" is the first song from the Radiohead band Hail To The Thief album, and contains several references to 1984.

"I will stay home forever, where two and two always add five. »

Brian May, later a member of the British music band Queen, met Tim Staffel during his studies, with whom he formed his first band, called 1984 after the novel from Orwell.

British musician Alan Parsons admitted there was a relationship between the novel 1984 and the album Eye in the sky (1982) by The Alan Parsons Project, telling YouTube user Top 2000 a gogo: “We wanted to base the album on the Big Brother is watching you kind of concept. There's always a camera watching you, there's always a helicopter in the sky watching you, and you can read a little line from a newspaper from space."

Magazines

1984 is the title of two fantasy comics and science fiction magazines for adults, one American and the other Spanish, which take their title from Orwell's novel. The Spanish magazine, as of 1984, was renamed Zona 84.

Newspapers

Randy Siegel published a comic cartoon in the New York Times on October 10, 2005 about "Google 2084".

Novels

The novel 1984 has served as inspiration for other novels and some of its aspects have also been alluded to in other novels.

2084: The End of the World is a dystopian science fiction novel written in 2015 by Boualem Sansal that is inspired by the novel 1984. The year that appears in its title is one hundred years after the year 1984.

En 2084 is a novel by El Chojin, which also alludes to said year.

1Q84 is a fantasy novel written by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, published in Japan in three books between 2009 and 2010. It quickly became a best-seller. Its title refers to the novel 1984, but it is written that way because in Japanese, the number "9" is "kyū" (九) just like the pronunciation of q in English.

1985 (1978) is a book by English writer Anthony Burgess. It consists of two parts. The first is a series of essays and interviews (Burgess is the voice of the interviewer and interviewee) that discuss aspects of Orwell's novel. The second part is a novel set in the year 1985. Rather than a sequel to 1984, in this novel the author suggests a possible 1985 if certain trends continue. Among the main themes of 1985 are the power of unions and Islam.

1985 (1983) is a sequel to the novel 1984. It is written by the Hungarian writer György Dalos. This novel begins with the death of Big Brother and reflects an intermediate period between 1984 and a more optimistic future characterized by a decline in the orthodoxy of the totalitarian system, struggles between the powers and the near destruction of the aviation of Oceania by Eurasia.

Ted Rall's graphic novel 2024 (2001) satirizes the materialism of modern society through the misadventures of Winston and Julia.

The novel Proyecto #194 (2009) by Alberto López González shows us a near future in which governments have taken control and surveillance to the extreme with small and sophisticated chips.

Little Brother (2008) is a novel written by Cory Doctorow. It tells the story of a group of teenagers who are clandestinely detained.

Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985) has been called "Margaret Atwood's feminist 1984".

Television

The reality show Big Brother takes its name from that character.

1984 was a prominent television advertisement used in the United States launch of Apple's Macintosh 128K computer in 1984. The advertisement refers to the society envisioned by Orwell in his novel.

In episode 17 (“War”) of the first season of the television series La femme Nikita (1997-2001) there is a scene where Nikita is subjected to torture with rats in a similar way to the room 101 scene from Orwell's novel.

American Horror Story: 1984 is the ninth season of the FX anthology horror television series American Horror Story, created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk.

Video Games

In 2020 the video game Fortnite makes a parody of the aforementioned Apple television commercial, using the same reference to the company from Orwell's work.

In March 2010, Steam did the same to promote its arrival on Mac.

Big Brother Awards

The Big Brother Awards (Big Brother Awards in English, BBA as acronym) were conceived as a way to draw attention to invasions of privacy by businesses, civil servants and governments. The first BBA took place in London in 1988, with an audience of over 250 civil rights activists, intellectuals and the media.

Awards

• 1984: Prometheus Hall of Fame
• 1998: Locus Survey, 21st best novel before 1990.

In 2015 it was considered one of the 20 most influential books.

Spanish edition

• One hundred and eighty-four.. Translation José Luis Piquero. Hermida Editores. 2022. ISBN 978-84-124554-6-5.
• 1984. Translation Juan Pascual Martínez Fernandez. Editorial Austral. 2022. ISBN 978-84-450-1277-2.
• 1984. Translation Olivia by Miguel Crespo, illustrations of Riky Blanco. Barcelona: Editorial Alma. 2022. ISBN 978-84-18933-01-1.
• 1984. Translation Rafael Vázquez Zamora. Classic Destination Collection. Barcelona: Editions Destination. 2003, 2021. ISBN 978-84-233-4165-8.
• 1984. Translation Rafael Vázquez Zamora. Booket. 2021. ISBN 978-84-233-5939-4.
• 1984. Translation Arturo Bray. Obelisk. 2021. ISBN 978-84-9111-764-3.
• 1984. Translation Ariel Dilon, illustrations Luis Scafati. Barcelona: Editorial Books of the Red Fox. 2021. ISBN 978-84-122705-1-8.
• 1984. Translation Juan Pascual Martínez Fernández. Barcelona: Editorial Minotauro. 2021. ISBN 978-84-450-1027-3.
• 1984. Translation Miguel Temprano García. Hardcover. Memorial edition. Barcelona: Editorial Lumen. 2014. ISBN 9788426400260.
• 1984. Translation Miguel Temprano García. Barcelona: Editorial DeBolsillo. 2013. ISBN 9788499890944.
• 1984. Translation Olivia of Miguel Crespo. Barcelona: Reading Circle. 2003. ISBN 84-226-9645-2.
• 1984. Translation Olivia by Miguel Crespo, illustrations by Antonio Saura. Barcelona: Gutenberg Galaxy. 1998. ISBN 978-84-8109-188-5.