Science Fiction Retrospective 1: NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR

 

 Written by Hedge Big Brother.

I paid a visit to a bookstore a few months ago, on the hunt for some Dick (that’s Phillip K, smartass) and as I approached the rear of the store, past the shelves of newly released chick-lit and the entire corner of the store devoted to James Patterson novels, I saw the ghetto rise from the darkness, the sign read “Science Fiction / Fantasy” and the shelves were stocked wall-to-wall with images of implausibly attractive teenaged girls, their lithe arms draped across the base shoulders and sculpted torsos of their equally-attractive yet slightly more dead boyfriend.

In addition to the “Supernatural Romance” section which now graces almost every bookstore (thanks Stephanie Meyer, you hack), many SF and Fantasy departments are now stuffed with tales of unbridled passion between the recently graduated and the not-so-recently deceased. The age gap, 86 years in the case of everyone’s favourite necrophillic power couple, aside, the entire notion of these books residing in the science fiction or fantasy departments is, frankly, abhorrent.

Besides. Buffy and Angel already did the human/vampire love-fest back in 2001. And did it better, I might add. Twilight sucks, is what I’m trying to get at here.

This encroachment of vapid, pre-teen fantasies upon my beloved, however marginalised, genre lead me to look back to years past, to the classic works of science fiction and speculative fiction literature: The Handmaid’s Tale, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Man In The High Castle, Neuromancer, Dune; works of fiction almost incomparable with anything in today’s market. These are works of fiction that have made their mark on countless decades of popular culture; novels which have influenced not only contemporary literature but society as a whole.

In this multi-part retrospective, I will take a look at some seminal pieces of science fiction history, beginning with my personal favourite novel (of all time): George Orwell’s NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR.

 The Story

 Set in the titular year (more on that later), NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR tells the story of Winston Smith, employee at Air Strip One’s Ministry of Truth; a government department responsible for propaganda and the correction of historical ‘misprints’ which in any way cast doubt on the government’s absolute authority, and its accuracy bordering on prescience. This government, helmed by the omnipresent, universally adored and supremely powerful Big Brother, rules its citizens with an iron fist and a severe case of historical revisionism.

Indeed the theme of government censorship plays a large role in the story; often we are shown insight into Winston’s daily routine at the Ministry of Truth, which involves the alteration of Big Brother’s past predictions so as to bring them in line with current announcements and render the government perpetually correct. Even the year is disputable; Winston notes at one point in the novel that it may not even be 1984, that it simultaneously was always 1984 and will always be 1984 because the government has the ability to proclaim it, and to remove all record of it ever being otherwise.

Through the course of the novel, Winston commits intellectual treason against Big Brother, and by extension society itself and begins an illicit romance with another party member, Julia. The story is presented against a background of perpetual war; war with the nation’s interchangeable enemies Eurasia and Eastasia; war with the Party; and war with human nature. Around every corner, spies for the Party wait for any sign of unorthodox thought or action. Children turn in their own parents in to the Thought Police; the shadowy arm of the Ministry of Love responsible for maintaining public order and punishing and re-educating thought criminals.

I won’t spoil the ending for you, but I will say that the climax of this novel is intense and the resolution somewhat dire. Don’t expect the happy endings and contented resolutions of popular SciFi. This book is grim and uncompromising, and all the better for it.

The Influence

 NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR was a response to the totalitarian regimes of the 30s and 40s and there are many obvious parallels between the world of Oceania and the world of World War II affected Europe; particularly the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

The erasure of unpopular members of society – unpersons in the novel – is a direct reference to the Stalinist act of removing any record of those who had fallen out of favour with the regime from photographs and official records.

The undying hatred for the government’s enemies, however fickle those may be, references Soviet ties to Nazi Germany wherein no criticism of the Nazi government was permitted.

The three distinct classes – Proles, Outer Party and Inner Party – invoke the sentiment of the time; that there was a distinct gap between the echelons of society; a feeling echoed in todays Occupy movement. The idea of a constantly surveilled, downtrodden underclass and powerful, entitled aristocracy resonates with many today.

Indeed much of Orwell’s imagery – the faceless enforcers with jointed truncheons, the increasing gap between those who have and those who have not, the unwavering allegiance to those in power and the harsh criticism of anyone who dissents – can be seen today in many parts of the world; in the totalitarian regime of North Korea where anything other than total adoration of the party leader is punishable by hard labour or even death; in the spiteful rhetoric of Fox News, branding anyone who criticises their right wing ideology as a traitor, as unpatriotic, as un-American; in the ‘War on Terror’, a vast and seemingly endless war against a concept and a methodology, rather than a state, with no clear goal or exit strategy in mind.

The Impact

 NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR has impacted literary and popular culture in ways Orwell could never have foreseen. Having been unnerving in his prediction of many contemporary technologies – voice controlled computers in the speakwrite, two-way video conferencing in the telescreen, surveillance technology, photo editing technology – he has also left a mark on societies collective mind; often in ways unknown to the layman.

I once had a senior school student proclaim, loudly, in class that NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR was just a cheap rip-off of the popular reality television series Big Brother. I died a little inside on that day but it serves as testament to the effect Orwell’s narrative has had on the world; from the Apple commercial, which used the imagery of an Orwellian state to sell the early Macintosh to the concept of doublespeak; the irritating, meaningless cascade of corporate buzzwords so prevalent in contemporary society.

The influence of NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR is so ubiquitous and so deeply ingrained in social consciousness, many people don’t know it’s there at all. It doesn’t hurt that a lot of people are really, really dumb.

References to Big Brother have appeared in The Simpsons (often in reference to billionaire tyrant Rupert Murdoch), and films such as Equilibrium and the Star Wars original trilogy draw heavily from the novel in their depiction of a totalitarian state and the faceless stormtroopers who protect it. The video game Half-Life 2, in its depiction of City 17 is obviously influenced by Orwell. Political commentator Keith Olbermann has frequently in the past referred to Fox News as the “Ministry of Truth”. Indeed the term Orwellian has come, in the decades since the novel’s release, to describe any location, event or idea that is evocative of the oppressive, unpleasant future in which Orwell imagined his characters to reside.

It is, in part, due to this novel, and those which have followed it, that we have the notion of Big Brother watching us all, that we revile the propaganda of state-directed media and that we have learned to question what we are told. Some of us, anyway. I’m looking at you, Hannity viewers.

The Summary

 These retrospectives won’t end in a rating in the vein of a typical book review. Think of this more like a primer. These are not novels to be reviewed and scored like contestants on some inane reality game show. Just read them. Shut up, that’s why.

NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR is an important piece of fiction, a historic look into dictatorships past and present and a disturbingly accurate glimpse of what may be our future. It’s also an astonishingly good read, filled with tension, drama and characters you’ll love to hate. You may not enjoy it, but everyone needs to have experienced it. Read it because it affected science fiction in more ways than anybody can count. Read it because it’s one of the most honest renditions of a totalitarian dystopia you’ll find.  Read it because every dystopian fiction novel and film is the child of this miraculous, and awful piece of fiction. Read it because it’s better than every vapid, haphazardly constructed teen paranormal romance novel combined.

And remember. Two and two make five.

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You can harass the author of this post on Twitter: @CAricHanley

Images copyright, um, someone probably. I dunno. I found em on Google.