Chapter 13: Orwell’s 1984 and Education as Commodity Spectacle

In his book, Why Orwell Matters, Christopher Hitchens (2002) argues that Nineteen Eighty-Four (referred to as 1984 hereafter) is a novel that

It is 1984 that represents George Orwell at his darkest and most pessimistic. This dystopia is, at once, a reflection on Orwell’s lived experiences with fascism in the early 20th century, and a warning to future generations about the dehumanization that can be wrought by repressive tyranny and fascist governments. Having written about the plight of the working class as a journalist in England during the early 20th century, as well as chronicling a tyrannical dictatorship in Spain years later, Orwell became one of the 20th century’s most vocal critics of imperialism and totalitarianism.