Orwell found himself wondering what Britain might have looked like if it fell under the rule of either one of the totalitarian powers that dominated the mid 20th century. From that basic question, 1984 was created. Orwell presents a dark, unfulfilling, over politicized society, which is deemed tolerable for the safety it provides. From the beginning however, Orwell presents the protagonist as having a passionate individual side that calls to revolt, despite being somewhat pitiful in the opening scenes. While the ear 1984 has come and gone long ago, the disturbing yet strangely prophetic vision George Orwell presented in 1949 continues to be timelier with each passing decade. The novel 1984 remains the great classic of "negative utopia" which all subsequent dystopian novels were modeled on. As one of the first of its kind it in a time when many authors were focusing on the hopeful images of utopias, this view into how terribly wrong things can go for a society run by a government who not just alters peoples every behavior through reward very little of it and the threat of punishment but even alters their thoughts by changing the past through rewriting documents and thus history. The book is stunningly original and troubling novel that creates an imaginary world that is entirely convincing, from the first sentence to the last four words. No one The novels grasp of the imaginations of not just those who read it as it came out but entire subsequent generations cannot be denied nor can the force of its powerful warnings which seem to become more salient over time. Leland Thanks for your well considered response to the article. You are right in all you say things are so complicated now that never quite finish resolving one issue before another gets our attention.