Danger Ahead: George Orwell's Ominous Warning

The world holds many different signs of warning. We often see several of them on our daily commute to school or work. They appear on our television screens when a winter storm is approaching and light up our phones if a tornado is near. But some warning signs are not so straightforward.

George Orwell acts as the messenger for a haunting warning of what the future of our world may hold in his satirical novel, 1984. In his world of probable reality, the government controls everything and society is in a state of absolute conformity. No one is free, and most believe that's a good thing. War is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength. That is....most believe it's a good thing. Winston Smith hasn't allowed the shadow of his government to extinguish his flame just yet. In fact, he could just be the match to burn his world's corruption to the ground.

But what does it all mean? The best satire has the habit of giving its audience the uneasy feeling that their story has a larger meaning than it seems. Of course, 1984 is no exception. Orwell asks us the simple question: in what direction are we all headed? Where will our society end up if we don't change our ways? In many ways, his prediction became true. While there aren't any colossal "Big Brother" posters staring at us with brooding eyes, we are being watched. On most street corners, there are surveillance cameras being used to keep stores safe from robbers. On every cell phone there's an HD lens that can capture any moment at any time. Satellites in space are capable of taking photos of the entire Earth in incredible detail. Now I'
m not trying to create some illuminati conspiracy theory, but there's no way of knowing where all this data goes...or how it's really being used. Companies are able to figure out your interests by viewing your internet history and place ads for their company in places online that you're most likely to see them. It's scary!

Then there's the infamous year to consider: 1984. It's obvious that Orwell's fortune telling skills may be a little off as far as dates go, but that doesn't mean they should be disregarded. The apostles thought Jesus was going to return to end the world just two days after he left! Here we are, two thousand years later, and Judgement Day is yet to come. In truth, it's rather impossible to set a date to any of these things. Perhaps that's why Orwell picked a date so soon to his book's publication. He knew that date would be wrong. I personally don't believe he ever considered himself a master at fortune telling, and that modestly drove him away from pretending he did. Surely people laughed when the year 1984 came and left, much like people today laugh at the seemingly ridiculous predictions of Back to the Future Part II. What's important to keep in mind is that dates mean nothing. What matters is the inevitability of what Orwell believes to be our world's destined path.