1984 Litary Criticism

Mark Schorer classifies Nineteen Eighty-four as a piece of kinetic art: “art [that] exists in order to demand;” people must either abhor the content of the material or love it for it to be fully understood. Although he gives the book it’s credit for being a potentially powerful novel, he believes that the impact will wear off soon after its publication (in 1949). This novel, unlike George Orwell’s earlier book Animal Farm, is not a satire at all towards political future predicted in the book. Rather, it is an exhortation against totalitarianism and the British socialist party. Orwell uses sensory details to portray a time when people have lives that contain no sharp edges; the majority of the people in this society do not feel any highs or lows, because the government carefully monitors all enjoyment. The physical descriptions of Winston Smith and his depressing life alludes to the moral questions in the book about how much power should a single person or group of people ...