Orwell wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four as a warning for the members of his society as well as the societies of the future. As Warburg stated, "...if a man can conceive Nineteen Eighty-Four, he can also will to avoid it."(Reilly, p. 21) Orwell wanted to alert us and make us aware of the possible dangers that could be encountered in the future. Nineteen Eighty-Four is a warning to those who have faith in human progress and in man's ability to create a world of justice and peace.(Fromm, p.257) The novel pinpoints the dangers in today's society and proves to us that this faith is a falacy. Orwell warns us that we are not yet aware that our society is following a doomed path leading to a totalitarian state. He wants us to see the hopelessness of this path before it becomes so commonplace that

Nineteen Eighty-Four failed as a prophecy because it succeeded as a warning. Orwell's vision of Oceania has been averted. We must not, however, congratulate ourselves too early. The rise of Big Brother might not have been in 1984, but it could always be in 1996. Every time we hear a phrase from Nineteen Eighty-Four used in reference to our own society, it is another warning.(Cronkite, p.3)

verely prohibited by the Party , making love and sex totally political, void of any human emotion. All emotions belonged to the Party; even "a nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself" could betray you. Facecrime and thoughtcrime were punishable by the Party. Nineteen Eighty-Four is a portrait of a world in which man is stripped of his imagination, his emotions, and his language.(Reilly, p.74) It is a powerful reminder to preserve these characteristics of human nature.

we will be unable to see it at all.(Fromm, p.259) We, today, blindly accept things fed to us by our governments in the same manner that the citizens of Oceania accepted doublethink and the changes !

In Nineteen Eighty-Four, unlimited use of torture and brainwashing were needed to get rid of this human nature to strive for love, justice, truth, and solidarity. The conclusion is reached that it is possible to dehumanize man with techniques that are common knowledge today. O'Brien sets about the task of extinguishing Winston's individual humanity. By a series of physical and psychological tortures, Winston is totally erased as a person and is then recreated in the Party's image when in the end "he loves Big Brother."

unaware of and that most would prefer not to know. Although it is alarming, it is neccessary as a warning and a salvation. This is in contrast to Winston and his comment about Emanuel Goldstein's book, "The best books...are those that tell you what you already know."(Reilly, p.22) The society depicted in Orwell's novel is a possibility that we conceal in the far recesses of our minds, but it is a future that we fear and would prefer to avoid.

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become the term for overreaching authority. This name has been applied to Hitler and Stalin. In fact, Big Brother in Nineteen Eighty-Four is modelled after Stalin in his physical features, with his dark moustache and piercing eyes. Newspeak is a word for the dehumanizing language of bureaucracies and computer programs. Our own governments use it to manipulate, deceive, and cover harsh realities with soft words.(Cronkite, p.1) The governments of our time are not very different from Big Brother and the Party.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Nineteen Eighty-Four, Emanuel Goldstein's, Newspeak Newspeak, Party Winston, Appendix Newspeak, Winston Smith, Anti-Sex League, George Orwell, Wigan Pier, Erich Fromm, nineteen eighty-four, human nature, own society, nineteen eighty-four warning, complete control, citizens oceania, society orwell, power leads, destroy human, eighty-four warning, controls controls,
Approximate Word count = 2247
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)