Alice In Wonderland By Lewis Caroll
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Alice In Wonderland), a widely beloved British children’s book by Lewis Carroll, was published in 1865. With its fantastical tales and riddles, it became one of the most popular works of English-language fiction. It was notably illustrated by British artist John Tenniel.
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Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Alice In Wonderland), a widely beloved British children’s book by Lewis Carroll, was published in 1865. With its fantastical tales and riddles, it became one of the most popular works of English-language fiction. It was notably illustrated by British artist John Tenniel.
The story centres on Alice, a young girl who falls asleep in a meadow and dreams that she follows the White Rabbit down a rabbit hole. She has many wondrous, often bizarre adventures with thoroughly illogical and very strange creatures, often changing size unexpectedly (she grows as tall as a house and shrinks to 3 inches [7 cm]). She encounters the hookah-smoking Caterpillar, the Duchess (with a baby that becomes a pig), and the Cheshire Cat, and she attends a strange endless tea party with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. She plays a game of croquet with an unmanageable flamingo for a croquet mallet and uncooperative hedgehogs for croquet balls while the Queen calls for the execution of almost everyone present. Later, at the Queen’s behest, the Gryphon takes Alice to meet the sobbing Mock Turtle, who describes his education in such subjects as Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision. Alice is then called as a witness in the trial of the Knave of Hearts, who is accused of having stolen the Queen’s tarts. However, when the Queen demands that Alice be beheaded, Alice realizes that the characters are only a pack of cards, and she then awakens from her dream.
The story was originally told by Carroll to Lorina, Alice, and Edith Liddell (the daughters of Henry George Liddell, dean of Christ Church, Oxford, where the author had studied and held a fellowship) on a picnic in July 1862. Alice asked Carroll to write out the stories for her, and in response he produced a hand-lettered collection entitled Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. A visitor to the Liddell home saw the storybook and thought it should be published, so Carroll revised and expanded it. Appearing at a time when children’s literature generally was intended to teach moral lessons, the book at first baffled critics, who failed to appreciate the nonsense that so captivated its young readers. But Carroll understood how children’s minds worked, and the way he turned logic on its head appealed to their sense of the ridiculous. In the riddles and the poems—such as “How doth the little crocodile” and “You are old, Father William” (both parodies of well-known didactic poems)—he reached even more absurd heights. The work attracted a following and led to a sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (dated 1872 but published in December 1871). By the end of the 19th century, Alice (taking the two volumes together) had become the most popular children’s book in England, and within two more decades it was among the most popular storybooks in the world. It inspired numerous films, theatrical performances, and ballets as well as countless works of scholarly analysis.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a short story by Washington Irving, was first published in The Sketch Book in 1819–20. The protagonist of the story, Ichabod Crane, is a Yankee schoolteacher who lives in Sleepy Hollow, a Dutch enclave on the Hudson River. A suggestible man, Crane believes in the ghost stories and tales of witchcraft he has heard and read. He is particularly impressed by the tale of a spectral headless horseman said to haunt the area. Crane is also a mercenary; he courts Katrina Van Tassel mostly because she is the daughter of a rich farmer and is expected to receive a large inheritance. Abraham Van Brunt (also called Brom Bones) is Crane’s jealous rival, a local favorite, and a rash horseman who often plays tricks on the schoolmaster. Late one night as Ichabod Crane rides home from a party at Katrina’s home, he is suddenly frightened by a ghostlike headless horseman. The ghost pursues him and hurls at him a round object that he takes to be a head but is later revealed to have been a pumpkin. The schoolmaster is never seen in Sleepy Hollow again.
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American author Washington Irving published “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” in 1820 as part of his short story collection The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent while living abroad in England. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a ghost story, an example of American gothic fiction that evokes horror, folklore, and the supernatural. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” has become a classic Halloween tale for its spectral villain, the Headless Horseman, and its hapless hero, Ichabod Crane. This guide uses the Kindle E-Bookarama edition for page citations.
Dietrich Knickerbocker, a fictional Dutch historian of Irving’s invention, narrates the story, which is set near the northern New York port village of Tarry Town (real name Tarrytown, where Irving settled in 1835), situated on the Tappan Zee River (also the name of the real river that runs through the region). Two miles north of Tarry Town is a valley called Sleepy Hollow, which is where the main action of the story takes place. The narrator notes that Sleepy Hollow has a somnolent, mysterious quality. The Dutch residents, who have lived there for generations, believe the area is bewitched, either by “a High German doctor, during the early days of settlements; […] [or] an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of his tribe” (3). Regardless of the source, superstitions, visions, and hallucinations abound, making the area infamous and avoided by outsiders.
The most feared spirit in the region is a ghostly rider on horseback without a head. He is rumored to be a Hessian—a German soldier who fought with the British—general beheaded by a cannonball during the American Revolutionary War (3). Residents and local historians believe that the Headless Horseman gallops through the valley at night searching for his head and terrorizing those who get in his way. He returns to the church graveyard, where his body is buried, each morning. The narrator claims that he visited Sleepy Hollow when he was young, so he knows the region firsthand.
After setting the scene, the narrator tells the story of Ichabod Crane, an itinerant schoolteacher who moved from Connecticut to Sleepy Hollow 30 years before, around 1790. Ichabod is tall and lanky, with a high-beaked nose and large green eyes. He is a rather comic figure, with spindly arms dangling from too-short sleeves, feet like shovels, large ears, and a tiny flat head (9). These details are significant to the plot because the narrator will refer to Ichabod’s awkward movements and physiognomy throughout the story. Ichabod is the town’s only teacher, and he teachers the male children of local farmers in a one-room schoolhouse.
Ichabod becomes popular in town by making himself useful. He helps the farmers with whom he lodges and makes friends with the town’s women by providing lessons in psalmistry (the singing of psalms) and exchanging regional gossip (16). He enjoys home-cooked meals and ingratiates himself to his students’ mothers for invitations to dinners. Ichabod is an aficionado on witchcraft. He devours stories from Cotton Mather’s History of New England Witchcraft and eagerly trades stories of witches, omens, and strange events in Connecticut with the locals.
Not long after moving to Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod falls in love with one of his psalmistry students, Katrina Van Tassel, the 18-year-old daughter of Baltus Van Tassel, the town’s wealthiest farmer. Katrina is the most sought-after young lady in the village because of her beauty and her father’s wealth. She has many “rustic admirers,” chief among them the burly, jovial, and renowned equestrian Abraham Van Brunt, known locally as Brom Bones (32). Brom finds Ichabod's attentions to Katrina annoying, but because Ichabod avoids confrontation, Brom cannot settle the matter with a fight, as he would prefer. Instead, he and his friends pull pranks on Ichabod, damage his schoolhouse, and taunt him from afar. These acts do not deter Ichabod, who continues to visit Katrina and spend time with her during their singing lessons.
One autumn day, a “negro” arrives at the schoolhouse to deliver an invitation for Ichabod to attend a party at Van Tassel’s home that evening (40). Ichabod is excited, believing it will be the perfect opportunity to propose to Katrina. To arrive in style, he borrows a horse from the farmer with whom he is boarding. However, the horse turns out to be an old, ill-tempered plow-horse whose physical state and temperament will become important later in the story.
The party is sumptuous, with music, dancing, and mountains of food, at which Ichabod marvels. He dances with Katrina, who seems to enjoy his attentions, and this angers Brom Bones, who sulks in the corner (54).
After the dancing, the older men gather to tell stories about the Revolutionary War. The war took place from 1775 to 1783, so it is recent history at the time of the story. Even though many of the stories are tall tales, some of the men did in fact participate in the war. Soon, the conversation turns to stories about the Headless Horseman. Brom adds his own story in which he and his horse Daredevil race the Horseman for a bowl of punch. Afraid of losing, the Headless Horseman vanishes in a ball of fire. The stories make an impression on Ichabod, who has had strange experiences passing through the forest in Sleepy Hollow, which is where Brom met the Horseman.
As the party ends, Ichabod confesses his love to Katrina, but after a short meeting, he leaves deflated. The meeting occurs in a private location, and the narrator professes not to know what transpired between them. He speculates that Katrina may have been leading Ichabod on to attract another suitor’s attention.
On the long ride home through Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod recalls the night’s ghost stories and becomes anxious. He passes a large tree and a swamp, each of which is the site of a gruesome event. He senses a rider behind him and tries to pick up his pace, but his horse veers off course, going deeper into the forest. Ichabod calls out to ask who is galloping behind him but receives no response. He turns to see the Headless Horseman astride a black horse, holding a head in his lap. After a wild, terrifying chase through the forest, Ichabod sees the church in a clearing beyond the bridge and believes he will be safe. As Ichabod crosses the bridge, he looks back to see if the Horseman has disappeared, as Brom Bones and the others claimed. Instead, the Horseman continues to follow Ichabod and hurls his head, striking Ichabod and knocking him off his horse.
In the morning, the old horse returns to his owner, but Ichabod has disappeared. The townspeople find the remnants of the previous night’s attack, including a saddle, hoofprints in the mud, and Ichabod’s hat resting near the broken pieces of a pumpkin. After searching the area, they give up, unable to find Ichabod’s body.
Ichabod had few possessions and no personal attachments; therefore, the townspeople do not take any further action regarding his disappearance. Most conclude that the Headless Horseman carried him away (80). The narrator provides a competing story he heard years later, from a farmer who claimed that Ichabod fled, made his way to New York, and became a politician. Brom Bones marries Katrina and looks “exceedingly knowing” when anyone mentions the story of Ichabod Crane (82). The narrator concludes with the townspeople’s belief that Ichabod became a ghost who haunts the now disused schoolhouse and that some hear his mournful singing as they pass through the hills.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Brave New World is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, inhabited by genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific advancements in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning that are combined to make a dystopian society that is challenged by only a single individual: the story's protagonist.
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Plot summary
Brave New World is set in 2540 CE, which the novel identifies as the year AF 632. AF stands for “after Ford,” as Henry Ford’s assembly line is revered as god-like; this era began when Ford introduced his Model T. The novel examines a futuristic society, called the World State, that revolves around science and efficiency. In this society, emotions and individuality are conditioned in children at a young age, and there are no lasting relationships because “everyone belongs to everyone else” (a common World State dictum). Huxley begins the novel by thoroughly explaining the scientific and compartmentalized nature of this society, beginning at the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, where children are created outside the womb and cloned in order to increase the population. The reader is then introduced to the class system of this world, where citizens are sorted as embryos to be of a certain class. The embryos, which exist within tubes and incubators, are provided with differing amounts of chemicals and hormones in order to condition them into predetermined classes. Embryos destined for the higher classes get chemicals to perfect them both physically and mentally, whereas those of the lower classes are altered to be imperfect in those respects. These classes, in order from highest to lowest, are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. The Alphas are bred to be leaders, and the Epsilons are bred to be menial laborers.
Who wrote The Wealth of Nations? Who wrote Inferno and the other books of The Divine Comedy? Test your knowledge of the names behind the famous works in this quiz.
Bernard Marx, an Alpha, is one of the main characters of the story. He and his love interest, Lenina Crowne, travel to a “savage reservation,” where Marx’s boss (the Director) supposedly lost a female companion some years ago. When the two arrive, they see people living there engaging in unfamiliar rituals. They also stumble upon a woman (Linda) and her son (John, also referred to as the Savage) who Marx correctly assumes to be the lost family mentioned by the Director. The Director had recently been threatening to send Marx away for his antisocial behavior, so Marx decides to bring the two home with him.
Marx presents Linda and John to the Director, and John, the son the Director never knew he had, calls the Director “father.” This provokes the Director’s resignation, as procreation between persons is outlawed, and his crime has been exposed. John is kept in the “brave new world,” as he calls it, as a sort of experiment. Linda, however, is sent to a hospital because of her addiction to “soma,” a drug used by citizens to feel calmer. She eventually dies because of it, which causes John to go on an anti-soma rampage in the hallway of the hospital.
John becomes angrier and angrier with this society until eventually, he runs away to a lighthouse to live in isolation. He is able to evade tourists and reporters for a while, but eventually they find him and gawk as he engages in self-flagellation. The intensity of the crowd increases when John whips not only himself but a woman as well. Crowds descend from helicopters to witness the spectacle. Another woman appears (who is implied to be Lenina), and John attempts to whip her too. John is soon overcome with passion, and, after coming under the influence of soma, he falls asleep. The next morning, appalled at his complicity in the system, he hangs himself.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
It is an allegorical novel that deals with the Russian revolution through the animals in the manor farm who protests against their human masters’ tyranny. Unfortunately, when they feel like they have attained freedom, they become the victims of a power-hungry pig, Napoleon. He becomes a totalitarian dictator and rephrases the ideology of Animalism from “All are Equal” to “All Animals Are Equal / But Some Are More Equal Than Others” oppression.
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It is an allegorical novel that deals with the Russian revolution through the animals in the manor farm who protests against their human masters’ tyranny. Unfortunately, when they feel like they have attained freedom, they become the victims of a power-hungry pig, Napoleon. He becomes a totalitarian dictator and rephrases the ideology of Animalism from “All are Equal” to “All Animals Are Equal / But Some Are More Equal Than Others” oppression.
Key Facts about Animal Farm
Title: Animal Farm, though initially known as Animal Farm: A Fairy Story
When/where written: Orwell started writing the novel in 1944
Published: First published in England on 17 August 1945 and in the U.S in 1946
Literary Period: Modernist period
Genre: Political satire; AllegoryPoint-of-View: Third-person through an anonymous writer
Setting: Mr. Jones’ Manor Farm
Climax: The Climax of the novel appears in Chapter V, where Napoleon runs Snowball off the farm, to secure power.
Antagonist: Napoleon
George Orwell and Animal Farm
George Orwell was a committed socialist, who expressed his strong views through his intellectual engagements. He has clearly portrayed his dissatisfaction over the dictators and megalomaniacs through his writings. If one observes his works clearly it could be clearly seen how he has dealt with socialism as something more than an emotion. Moreover, he has identified the Spanish Civil War of 1936 as some kind of defining moment in his career. For, he too has taken part in the war which unfortunately incapacitated him.
Animal Farm depicts the agony of Orwell as a Socialist as he sees the way Socialism has been deformed by Stalin. Orwell deliberately mocks and criticizes the Russian leadership under Lenin using Animals in the novel. It is evidently his disappointment exhibited through the simple story that shares his detailed perspectives on the Socialist Revolution. Orwell in his Animal Farm explains the Russian Revolution as a history of a revolution that went wrong through the animals’ attempt to attain freedom and equality which unfortunately leads to dictatorship. Initially, when the animals secure their freedom they form a utopian society, but soon they fall prey to the dictatorship of the pigs which were the brightest of other animals. The course of the story stands for The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the early years of the Soviet Union. While concluding the novel Orwell honestly illustrates the miserable impact of power in the life of comrades who become tyrannical dictators who initially fought for a cause quite opposite.
Books related to Animal Farm
Animal Farm is a widely read allegorical novel of George Orwell set in a dystopian world. It is a political satire in all its form on the negative result of the Russian Revolution and Stalin’s dictatorship. Though Orwell is a believer in socialism, he warns people against the dangers of Communism and totalitarian states, which was spreading rapidly in Europe with the possibility of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany coming to power. Similar to Orwell’s Animal Farm, there are works intended as a political satire by different authors at different periods. These allegorical novels serve a moral or political idea woven into a fictional story.
Some of the novels that follow the setting and the theme of Animal farm include Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Golding’s Lord of the Flies, and Orwell’s famous dystopian novel 1984. Bradbury in his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 written during the 1950s, at the height of McCarthyism in America, explores the dangers of rejecting knowledge in his. Similarly, Golding’s Lord of the Flies, written in 1954, examines the anxieties of society post-world war. Also, Aldous Huxley in his Brave New World deals with a futuristic world where the citizens are genetically modified to uphold the authoritarian regime. In contrast to Animal Farm, 1984 is set in a futuristic world and explores the effects of totalitarianism and warns the world against it.
The Lasting Impact of Animal Farm
Animal Farm though a short book is one of the few books that are featured as favorites by most people since its publication. Still in 1945, when Orwell tried to publish the book, it wasn’t a cakewalk for him. The publishing houses in Britain were hesitant for it was criticizing the Russian government, which was an ally then. Even, T. S. Eliot, who was a director of a publishing firm, rejected stating that it is “good writing” and still “not convincing.”
In this allegorical novel, Orwell makes one experience all the human emotions through the animal characters in the novel. Orwell attacks Stalinism in Russia through the characters of Animal Farm. The dominant figures of Animalism, The Old Major, Snowball, and Napoleon represent Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky, and Stalin respectively. Napoleon driving Snowball out of the farm is based on Trotsky, who was expelled from the Communist Party, deported from Russia, and murdered by Stalin’s order.
The novel in all its significance speaks about power and corruption and how a democratic farm turns into a dictatorship. Even after decades of its publication, it stands as evidence of the political system’s universality. Napoleon uses propaganda, fear, and force to accomplish his motive. Similarly, this is happening of all ages. It could be relevant to all periods wherever the dictators take advantage of the human desire for a better world for their own selfish interests. Thus, reading Animal Farm will remain an eye-opener for generations to come as a manual to question power and hold leaders and the government responsible for their acts. In the end, the key characters not only represent the dictatorial regime of Stalin but also any regime that tries to hold ultimate power over its subordinates.
Thus, all the unique features of the novel as mentioned stand as evidence for the long-lasting impact the novel has created in the past decades.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Frankenstein is an 1818 novel by Mary Shelley that was republished in 1831 in a more widely read edition. It is often considered to be the first science fiction novel because of how it combines real scientific research with some speculative elements. The novel also has elements of the horror and gothic genres. Shelley originally wrote the novel as part of a friendly competition to see who could write the best scary story. Mary's husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, Romantic poet Lord Byron, and Byron's doctor John Polidori were the other authors included in the competition. Polidori notably wrote a novella called The Vampyre, which was one of the first examples of vampire fiction ever written. Shelley's novel is by far the most famous and enduring piece of writing to come from that competition, and it is still widely read today.
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Frankenstein is an 1818 novel by Mary Shelley that was republished in 1831 in a more widely read edition. It is often considered to be the first science fiction novel because of how it combines real scientific research with some speculative elements. The novel also has elements of the horror and gothic genres. Shelley originally wrote the novel as part of a friendly competition to see who could write the best scary story. Mary's husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, Romantic poet Lord Byron, and Byron's doctor John Polidori were the other authors included in the competition. Polidori notably wrote a novella called The Vampyre, which was one of the first examples of vampire fiction ever written. Shelley's novel is by far the most famous and enduring piece of writing to come from that competition, and it is still widely read today.
Frankenstein Summary
Frankenstein opens with a sailor named Robert Walton writing letters to his sister about his voyage to the North Pole. While in the Arctic, Walton finds Victor Frankenstein who has been trying to travel across the ice using a dogsled but has grown weak and sick. Victor tells Walton his life story, starting with his upbringing in Geneva and his choice to attend medical school.
At medical school, Frankenstein became obsessed with the idea of life and death and eventually figured out how to create life from death by using electricity to reanimate dead tissue. He spent many months creating a being using this method. It worked one night, and he managed to bring his creation to life. When he saw the creature move, however, he was horrified by how monstrous it looked, and he abandoned the being before falling into a months-long fever. When he recovered, Victor learns that his younger brother William had been murdered by his creature, and an innocent woman was executed for the crime.
During a walk in the mountains, Victor encountered his creature. The monster told Victor about what had happened since his abandonment. He talked about learning to survive on his own and spending many months living in a lean-to beside a family's house. He tried to connect with the family members, but they, like Victor, shunned him. He encountered William and murdered him when William responded to him with fear as well. The creature, who understands that he will never be accepted by human society, asks Victor to create a female companion for him. Victor reluctantly agrees.
When the female creature is almost complete, Victor suddenly changed his mind, fearing what might happen if his creature should reproduce. He destroys his new creation, and the monster, infuriated, vows revenge. In his anger, he killed both Victor's friend, Henry Clerval, and Victor's bride, Elizabeth. Victor began to track his creature so that he could get revenge and followed him all the way to the Arctic.
However, he dies on board Walton's ship. Shortly thereafter, the monster arrives. Though he hates Victor, he still mourns his death. The monster tells Walton that he is going out onto the ice to die so that his suffering can end.
1984 by George Orwell
The novel takes place in the year 1984 in which England has been transformed under a totalitarian superstate known as Oceania. 1984 follows Winston Smith, a mid-level member of the Party. The Party demands the allegiance and adoration of its citizens. But, Winston Smith has escaped the brainwashing that seems to have taken over everyone else’s mind. At the center of the Party is a mysterious figurehead who goes by the name of Big Brother. Winston’s burgeoning interest in the past and his hatred of the Party and its cruel, murderous, and destructive policies lead him to seek out the revolution.
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The novel takes place in the year 1984 in which England has been transformed under a totalitarian superstate known as Oceania. 1984 follows Winston Smith, a mid-level member of the Party. The Party demands the allegiance and adoration of its citizens. But, Winston Smith has escaped the brainwashing that seems to have taken over everyone else’s mind. At the center of the Party is a mysterious figurehead who goes by the name of Big Brother. Winston’s burgeoning interest in the past and his hatred of the Party and its cruel, murderous, and destructive policies lead him to seek out the revolution.
Key Facts about 1984
Title: Nineteen-Eighty-Four: A Novel, later republished as 1984.
When/where written: Orwell wrote the book in Jura, Scotland from 1945-1949.
Published: June 1949
Literary Period: Late Modernism
Genre: Novel / Dystopian / Science Fiction
Point-of-View: Third-person omniscient
Setting: London/Oceania in 1984
Climax: Torture scene in Room 101.
Antagonist: The Party/O’Brien/Big Brother
George Orwell and 1984
It is for 1984 that George Orwell is best-known. The events of his life led him down a path that allowed him to see the world through a very clear lens. His belief system was well fostered and served to inspire him to write 1984 and Animal Farm, as well as other works of fiction and non-fiction that seek to promote democratic socialism over any form of totalitarianism. As a young man, Orwell lived in poverty in London and Paris in order to learn about the darkest parts of society. Unlike most men and women with strongly held beliefs, he stood up for them. When he traveled to Spain to write about the Spanish Civil War he ended up joining a militia in order to fight against fascism and Franco. He was shot in the neck and charged with treason for his efforts. Orwell was well aware of the dangers of totalitarianism and Soviet Communism and knew that the conditions he depicted in both novels could occur anywhere at any time. Today, the books are considered to be a reminder that democracy is not bulletproof. It is possible for our better-governing systems and better selves, to fail.
Books Related to 1984
When George Orwell wrote 1984 dystopian fiction was not the genre that it is today. At the time that he was writing 1984, there were several wonderful examples of this genre from which he could draw inspiration. Some of these include his mentor Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World published in 1932, Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We published in 1924, and Jack London’s The Iron Heel. The latter is considered to be the earliest example of the genre, published in 1908.
Over the decades the genre would grow, becoming one of the most popular amongst readers and writers. Today, there are numerous contemporary examples of novels and short stories that have their origins in George Orwell’s masterpiece. These include books like The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, The Stand by Stephen King, The Power by Naomi Alderman, The Giver by Lois Lowry, and The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
The Lasting Impact of 1984
Few books have had as long a lasting impact as 1984. When it was published in 1949 after the Second World War, the book seemed to be at its most relevant. But, the following decades proved, as the times are proving today, that 1984 is not falling out of the spotlight anytime soon. The novel has sold tens of millions of copies. It has been made into and inspired movies, tv shows, and plays. Orwell’s wider literary oeuvre has birthed other novels (such as those listed above) and inspired a generation of thinkers to always keep an eye on the past.
Today, as anti-democratic, pro-isolationist, and even fascist governments are taking power all over the world, many have turned to Orwell for his knowledge of these systems and the importance of fighting back against them. Totalitarianism is not a thing of the past and luckily we have 1984 as well as Orwell’s other novels and essays to remind us how possible it is to lose our democratic systems of governance.
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