How To Read Literature Like A Professor Essay

George Orwell’s novel, 1984, and Thomas C. Foster’s novel, How To Read Literature Like A Professor, have several comparisons. Winston Smith, thirty-nine year old worker for the Ministry of Truth, is stuck in a totalitarian environment that he strongly disagrees with. However it is wise for him to keep his feelings to himself because “Big Brother is always watching.” 1984 relates widely to chapter thirteen, It’s All Political , of How To Read Literature Like A Professor. 1984 is a novel with a deeper political meaning behind it. As mentioned in How To Read Literature Like A Professor, a book on politics will be a normal story, but the reader “can tell something is going on beyond the story.” 1984 was written in the 1950’s and during this time period was the rise of dictators such as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. George Orwell was growing up and living during the rise of totalitarianism which led him to have most of his novels “politically charged.” Totalitarianism is the absolute control by the state or a governing branch of a highly centralized institution. Totalitarianism is the idea represented in 1984 by “Big Brother.” In many cases “Big Brother” is seen to be correlated to Joseph Stalin. Throughout the novel there is much control over everything in the people’s lives through the Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Love, Ministry of Truth, and Ministry of Plenty. Each ministry was responsible …show more content…
As mentioned in chapter thirteen, most politically centered books “address the rights of persons and the wrongs of those in power.” This is the exact goal that George Orwell accomplished in his novel about Winston’s life and job. Winston and everyone around him are being wronged and “Big Brother” and the Party members are the ones in power doing the wronging. Most things mentioned in 1984 can be tied back to real life events that George Orwell lived