1984

By: George Orwell

4 out of 5

It’s a required reading in most schools for a reason! It’s a chilling and depressing interpretation of a world void of individuality and personal freedoms. Frankly, I think some of the meat of this book is lost on high schoolers 1) because most don’t actually read it in school, me being one of them, and 2) I think a lot of the message only hits home after experiencing the world as an individual adult outside of your parents umbrella. This is why I decided to give the book another shot, and I think it would be wise for more young adults to read it as well.

Now, I do believe the rise, spread, and fear of communism (a.k.a the Red Scare) during the ’40s and ‘50s contributed a lot to the popularity of this book. Since then, I think the prevailing consensus about communism has become increasingly negative, so I don’t necessarily think the book will carry as much weight today as it did 80 years ago. To my knowledge, there isn’t widespread fear about an instantaneous shift towards a totalitarian government hell-bent on homogenizing the population; our government’s many checks and balances have seen to that (thank you founding fathers). With that being said, one could still glean from this book a cautionary tale of incremental encroachments by the government leading to less and less individualism. As frustrating as other people can be — family, friends, and strangers alike — as well as differing opinions and thought processes, it’s important to remember that from those same annoyances comes the art and creativity that brings excitement and color to our world. Without them, it’s a lot of gray.