Skip to main content

1,984 reasons why I hate Orwell

Sorry, that was clickbait. I don't actually have a list of 1,984 reasons to hate Orwell, but I do have some big problems with him that I'll be hashing out here (aka ranting).

  1. He is obsessed with torture. 1984 is a study in human nature. However, Orwell chooses to study human nature through the lens of torture. I understand his desire to make Oceania such a deeply horrific society, but I think he goes far past the point of appropriateness. He seems like part of that group of creepy old-school psychologists who thought that any lengths could be taken in the name of science. Even though everything in 1984 is obviously theoretical, it's unsettling to me that Orwell has mentally worked out so many intricate details about the brink of human sanity in relation to torture. Creep.
    1. He is sexist. I think I've already written a post about this one, but I'll say it again: there is no female independence in 1984. All the social and political leaders are men, and the only female characters appear as motherly figures or sexual objects. The fact that Winston doesn't even encounter any other women in his life besides his neighbor, his mom, and Julia is ridiculous and unrealistic to the point where it's clear that Orwell is unwilling to give any of his "precious time" to creating well-developed and multi-dimensional female characters. It's kind of ironic that he did so much writing to promote socialism but didn't even see women as equals.
    2. He is (probably) racist and homophobic. I made these deductions from subtleties in the book, but also from the fact that he was a white man born in 1903 (he was also born in India because his dad was working in the Imperial Civil Service - not a good look). In the book, there's only one comment made about sexuality, but it's a derogatory comment about people in the labor camps having same-sex relationships. It's mentioned alongside other degenerate behavior that people in these camps resort to, so to me that makes Orwell's views of gay people pretty clear. He also never mentions racial diversity within Oceania (which is impossible because Oceania is North America and England, which had lots of racial diversity when this book was written), and the only racially-charged comments he makes are gross stereotypes of prisoners from Eurasia and Eastasia. So, lots of bad things going on here. Once again, ironic that his idea of equality has so many asterisks.
    Those are my three biggest reasons for disliking Orwell. I'm sure if I thought about it for long enough I could get 1,984 but I think this will do for now. Do you agree with my criticisms? Are there some big ones that I missed?

    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Final thoughts

     Before I get into this, I want to start by pointing out that Jill was #1 on my most likely to die list, and she is the one who died. It feels wrong to congratulate myself, but I am a little bit proud. The ending was quite satisfying. It felt almost too good and peaceful for the end of such a wild and tragic novel. Nearly the entire group survived, they moved on from their ghosts of the past, and they have great resources that they can begin their Earthseed community with. I'm a little upset that Lauren is still in a relationship with Bankole, but it's good that there are so many relationships within their community as they plan for the future. The most surprising part of the ending was when Lauren discovered that Greyson, Emery, and their kids are all sharers. I was not expecting this at all, because sharing was Lauren's most unique trait. However, it does alienate her less from the rest of the group, and it makes the former slaves more united with the rest of the group. T...
    Post a Comment
    Read more

    Peter Walsh and fake feminism

     I don't think I'm the only one who really dislikes Peter Walsh. He's arrogant, rude, selfish, and just plain annoying. However, the part about him that I despise the most is the way that he makes Clarissa feel. Every time he's around, and even sometimes when he's not, Clarissa feels Peter's judgement. He's living rent-free in her head, and the shame that he makes her feel is unjustified. Now, I'm sure that Peter Walsh would consider himself to be a feminist. His whole issue with Clarissa is that he feels that she has so much wasted potential. He knew her when she was young and radical, and he doesn't seem to be able to comprehend how she ended up as a housewife married to a conservative politician. He looks down on her for the way her life has turned out, and this is where we run into some issues.  It's one thing to support and uplift someone who has been forced to compromise their lifestyle because of the patriarchy - it's another thing to ...
    5 comments
    Read more

    Third time's the charm

    I think we can all agree that Janie hasn't had the best of luck when it comes to husbands. First she is forced into her marriage with Logan Killucks, and then she runs away with Joe, who seems to be a Prince Charming but really just wants to use her. As a reader, I started out pretty optimistic about Janie's life, but by the time she meets Tea Cake I was feeling more cynical. She's had two failed relationships that started out somewhat positively: what's to say this one won't end like the others? Janie's first failed marriage can be blamed primarily on Grandma, as she is the one who forced Janie into the relationship in the first place. Janie was too young and immature to marry, and didn't even like Logan to begin with. That is not a good foundation for a long and happy marriage. Though Logan is painted as villainous in their relationship, he doesn't really do anything wrong. He expects out of Janie what a man would generally expect out of a wife in th...
    6 comments
    Read more