Orwell's 1984 is directly reflective of the world Orwell saw when he was writing it in 1948. The world of Oceania is simply Orwell's London as he felt it after the end of World War II. Food shortage and the threat of bombing are both very real perils in the world of 1984, which is very reflective of post-war life. The biggest way that the novel is reflective of the time it was written is Orwell's vehement distaste for totalitarianism. Orwell had already covered the horrifying events of the Spanish Civil War and seen firsthand what it looks like when fascism takes over. As we had already seen in his previous novel, Animal Farm, Orwell had a strong animosity towards Stalin and his party in particular. Elements in the story, such as the Party, the proles, Big Brother, and the Thought Police are all reflective of this.
It has been said that Orwell wanted to call his novel 1948, after the year it was written, but his publisher insisted on reversing the last two numbers. Whether that story is true or not, much of the London Orwell describes in the novel reflects the London Orwell saw around him, still in partial ruin after surviving the many bombings of World War II. The rockets that sometime drop and explode on the city in the novel are reminders of the V-2 rockets the Nazis aimed at Britain near the end of the war. Food rationing continued after the war, too, as the economy stabilized itself, and people would have vividly remembered severe war rationing. People reading the book at the time would have completely understood the shortages experienced by Julia and Winston of items like sugar, real bread, and coffee.
Further, the totalitarian government of Oceania is a direct mirror of the totalitarian government of Stalinist Russia of the time and of (then recently defeated) Nazi Germany. Both countries insisted on adulation of a great leader, subjected their citizens to constant lies and propaganda, spied on their citizens, tortured people, tolerated absolutely no dissent, and ran war economies. A great part of Orwell's motivation to write the book was to warn people that this kind of government could come to England, so they could be on guard against it.
George Orwell wrote 1984 in 1948. In order to decide which year to set his novel in, he simply reversed the last two digits of his present year. Worlld War II had just ended. Orwell had seen the devastating effects of fascism as he worked as a reporter in Spain throughout the Spanish Civil War. While he was there, he saw that the anti-fascist forces were being opposed by another form of totalitarianism: the pro-Stalin communist forces.
These experiences caused Orwell to be disgusted by all totalitarian governments, fascist and communist alike. This is why he created the image of Big Brother to be physically similar to both Hitler and Stalin, with a heavy black moustache and daunting presence.
Orwell was also very concerned about the rise of mass media and the cultural influence that it had. Television was already gaining popularity during the years that Orwell was writing 1984 and he could see the power it had in manipulating the political opinions of its viewers. He imagined a world where televisions would broadcast propaganda 24/7 and even be able to transmit images from the television back to the broadcasters.
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