1984 context

Question 1

What is the origin of 2+2= 5

Answer 1

• “2 + 2 = 5” was a real political slogan from the Soviet Union, a promise to complete the industrializing Five-Year Plan in four years.
• Orwell satirizes the slogan here to demonstrate the authoritarian tendency to suspending reality

Question 2

What is some historical context behind consistent surveillance

Answer 2

• mass media was a key factor in Hitler’s rise, enabling prominent figures and organizations to shape public opinion on a broad scale.
• The intrusive telescreens and the Party’s frequent parades and events are drawn from Nazi Party public propaganda and its marches and rallies.

Question 3

What was the impact of world war 2 on the novel?

Answer 3

• When 1984 was written, World War II had ended only a few years prior, and many people believed World War III was inevitable, making the wars of the novel feel not just realistic but unavoidable.

Question 4

Orwell quote about totalitarianism?

Answer 4

Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic Socialism, as I understand it

Question 5

Who is Leon Trotsky

Answer 5

• Leon Trotsky was an influential politician during the beginning of the Soviet Union, but was expelled from the Communist Party after a power struggle with Stalin.
• This mirrors the character Goldstein in 1984, because Goldstein is rumored to have been one of the founders (along with Big Brother), but left and started the dissident organization, The Brotherhood.

Question 6

Context about rewriting history?

Answer 6

• Winston Smith works at the Ministry of Truth in the Records Department, where his job is to rewrite history
• This is similar to the Soviet Union’s history of rewriting history textbooks to remove pictures and information about politicians who were no longer supported by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union made sure to rewrite past events to make Stalin and his government look better. This is the role of the Ministry of Truth in 1984.

Question 7

Context about thoughtcrime and mind control

Answer 7

he punishment for “thoughtcrimes” is similar to the USSR’s use of psychiatry to commit political dissidents to psychiatric hospitals after diagnosing them with schizophrenia, where they were “treated” with psychoactive drugs, presumably to keep them out of public eye and to discredit them. With the psychoactive drugs, it was likely easier to control their minds. At any rate, the USSR sought to tightly control the thoughts of its people and treat any disagreeing ideas as mental illness. This is similar to 1984, because people could be tortured for thoughtcrimes until they were forced to love Big Brother and the Party.