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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?

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