Did Orwell help us...

[RSLudlum]

by forewarning us or just give those in power a template to act upon???

[Elliott]

He didn't need to make the template. It was already there. What he did was make the concept accessible and understandable to the average person. I think his works, especially Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, should be required reading for everyone. There should probably be a whole semester spent on each book for students in high school. People absolutely must understand the lessons contained in these books.

[Conza88]

How the Central Intelligence Agency Played Dirty Tricks With Our Culture
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/031800-02.htm

[Conza88]

The agency also changed the ending of the movie version of "1984," disregarding Orwell's specific instructions that the story not be altered. In the book, the protagonist, Winston Smith, is entirely defeated by the nightmarish totalitarian regime. In the very last line, Orwell writes of Winston, "He loved Big Brother." In the movie, Winston and his lover, Julia, are gunned down after Winston defiantly shouts: "Down with Big Brother!"

[freedom-maniac]

Orwell was a Democratic Socialist.

[NMCB3]

Orwell was a Democratic Socialist.True, but that doesn`t mean he did not write good books.

[freelance]

He didn't need to make the template. It was already there. What he did was make the concept accessible and understandable to the average person. I think his works, especially Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, should be required reading for everyone. There should probably be a whole semester spent on each book for students in high school. People absolutely must understand the lessons contained in these books.

Back in the day, we did read those books in school.

[Dustancostine]

We read Animal Farm but not 1984. But I have since.