Orwell’s ‘1984’ now comes with a trigger warning

In an ironic twist, George Orwell’s iconic dystopian novel “1984” now comes with a trigger warning.

In honor of the book’s 75th anniversary, Orwell’s estate has approved a foreword written by author Dolen Perkins-Valdez in which she warns readers about “misogyny” and racial discrimination. Perkins-Valdez writes that she finds Winston Smith, the book’s protagonist, “problematic” because of his attitude towards women.

"I'm enjoying the novel on its own terms, not as a classic but as a good story; that is, until Winston reveals himself to be a problematic character," she writes. "For example, we learn of him: 'He disliked nearly all women, and especially the young and pretty ones.’ Whoa, wait a minute, Orwell.”

The passage quoted by Perkins-Valdez continues on to explain why Smith disliked young women: “It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers-out of unorthodoxy.”

Perkins-Valdez also complains in her foreword about the lack of Black people in the novel, saying that as a Black woman, she had trouble connecting with the characters.

"That sliver of connection can be difficult for someone like me to find in a novel that does not speak much to race and ethnicity at all,” she wrote.

The 1949 classic depicts life under the authoritarian rule of a tyrannical Party that arrests citizens for “thoughtcrimes,” which refer to any deviation from the Party's ideologies. Citizens are constantly surveilled and monitored for disobedience. The Party invents “newspeak” and disseminates propaganda through its Ministry of Truth, which regularly revises history to support its political aims. Much of the Party’s propaganda focuses on demonizing its political opponent.

“1984” became heavily popular during the Biden administration, which arrested its political opponents, surveilled citizens, demonized its main political rival, and attempted to establish a Ministry of Truth called the “Disinformation Governance Board.” Those who challenged government propaganda were heavily censored, and Americans who failed to observe ideologies like DEI or transgenderism were "canceled"—what Orwell refers to in the book as “unexisting.” The Biden administration also used media propaganda to redefine words and revise history to support its political goals. 

‘The most 1984-ish thing I've ever f***ing read’

The decision by Orwell’s estate to endorse Perkins Valdez’s foreword has sparked alarm among observers.

"Thank you for your trigger warning for ‘1984,’" novelist Walter Kirn said recently on the podcast America This Week. "It is the most 1984-ish thing I've ever f***ing read." He described the foreword as “a sort of Ministry of Truthism” because “they're giving you a little guidebook to say, 'Here's how you're supposed to feel when you read this.’”

Taking issue with Perkins-Valdez’s suggestions of racist undertones in the book, Kirn noted that Orwell was writing about midcentury Britain: “When Orwell wrote the book, Black people made up maybe one percent of the population. It's like expecting White characters in every Nigerian novel."

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