1984: Influencial factors

There are certain events which influenced Orwell when writing 1984. One particular event which is said to have been the origin for Room 101 is the torture which he endured when attending his preparatory school. Although such treatment was common during that era, there is no denying that it did influence Orwell. Another element that contributed to the creation of Room 101 is Orwell working for the BBC in Room 101. There, political news about the state of the war were being broadcast and Orwell felt that the BBC were not retelling the events acurately, and were in fact distorting them. This can be related to what Winston must do in Room 101: to deny the truth and accept the lies as truth.

After writing one of his novels, Wigan Pier, Orwell went to Spain in order to write articles about the Spanish Civil War. In Spain, the conflict was occuring due to the Communist/Socialist movement,and the anarchists; which were the enemies of the party that were being shot or imprisoned. This obviously influenced Orwell to envision the Thought Police, in 1984. Similar to the way that the enemies of the party during the Spanish Civil War were being shot or imprisoned, the people that get caught by the Thought Police and are thought of being Big Brother's enemies, are being imprisoned and tortured as well. Another influence that he encountered while living in Spain during the Civil War is that class distinctions were persisting even under a communist regime, despite the fact that what communism was supposed to provide equality among all its residents. This is also something that appears in 1984, when the rationizing of chocolate is intended for making everyone feel equal, while it is in fact, the reader finds out later on in the novel that members of the Inner Party have access to far more products which other residents don't (such as wine).

Another major influence over 1984, is Stalin's Soviet Union. The propaganda which was often being shown on tv was used as means of promoting hate towards the Soviet Union's enemies; just as many images were being shown during the Two Minutes Hate event, which were portraying the nation's enemy, Goldstein, as the ultimate personnification of evil. Another reacurring event from Soviet Russia was the erasing of Stalin's enemies from photographs, as if they never existed. This, is very much like the re-writing of the past which occurrs throughout 1984. Orwell intended this event as a way of warning the general public about what can occurr if we no longer posess any democratic rights; because we cannot control the goverment, not even partially and in return the goverment not only controls our actions, but also our knowledge. Which means that they censure the public's knowledge, and only let them know what will benefit themselves. This is also a warning that not everything that an 'expert' (such as a politician, or doctor) says it's real. Because what is considered real is a belief that most people acquire, but very often that believe may not even be based on facts, which is why reality must be questioned and challanged.

During the second novel I will focus on finding connections between Farenheit 451 and 1984. Since both novels have been influenced by events which occurred during World War 2, and they were both published relatively around the same time.