Why did George Orwell choose the year 1984?
While George Orwell’s depiction of a dystopian future shown in his acclaimed 1949 novel, 1984, was considered to be a damning indictment of government control for its time, the intentions of the author were probably for it to instil enough of a fear into society for it to remain relevant to its contemporary audience.
The fact that we still use the term ‘Orwellian’ as a catch-all term for the novelist’s bleak view of the world, especially the one that he so vividly plunges us into in 1984, ought to be an indication that collectively, we failed to heed any of the warnings given to us in this disturbing vision, and instead went full steam ahead towards creating this version of society for ourselves. There was every opportunity to avoid living in a world where state surveillance was seen as a necessary means of exerting control over people, and sadly, we didn’t take it when the possibility of it was first suggested.
With facial recognition being used by law enforcement in the nation’s capital, as well as suppression of certain political ideologies and exaggerated levels of control being introduced by the government, modern life sounds frighteningly similar to what Orwell insinuated that Britain would be like in 1984, and while the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher did her absolute best to see that her country would end up in this horrifying timeline, we have at last reached a point where we can comfortably say that we’re living this nightmarish existence.
But, despite many of the warnings seeming obvious to readers who are able to comprehend socio-political commentary and subtext, one thing still remains mysterious about the book and its inception, and many readers have debated its meaning ever since it was first published.
What everyone wants to know, especially in 2026, where the events of the book appear to be more true than ever, is why 1984 was the chosen year for the story to take place, and what it was that prompted him to proclaim that by the mid-1980s, the world had every chance of descending into this dystopian inferno.
So, why did George Orwell choose 1984?
While this might seem like a slight cop out of a reason, there are plenty of theories that simply state that Orwell lazily chose to switch a couple of digits around from the year in which he wrote the book, a year before its original publication, leading to him getting the year of the title, 1984. This was further backed up by his publisher at the time, who claimed that this was the only reason the date was chosen, but in actuality, there are many more purported reasons that Orwell was drawn towards this particular year.
In the decades immediately preceding the book’s publication, there had been a number of totalitarian regimes that had risen and fallen across Europe, with the actions of leaders like Adolf Hitler, Francisco Franco and Joseph Stalin still fresh in the memory of both the author and the public. In essence, what Orwell was aiming to do with 1984 was warn his readers of the dangers of letting such things happen again, and what the consequences would be if we were unable to learn from our historical mistakes, with the year 1984 being a point in the not-too-distant future where the potential outcome of our failings could materialise.
There are also a couple of other novels that could have inspired the selection of the date, with 1984 being relevant to both Jack London’s The Iron Heel and the succession of a political party in the novel, and also the political satire of GK Chesterton’s The Napoleon of Notting Hill, which is also set in the same year.
The final reason that has been suggested as an inspiration is that the political think tank, The Fabian Society, which was noted for its non-violent and left-wing policies that aligned with Orwell’s own personal worldview, was formed in 1884, a century before the novel takes place. It’s entirely possible that Orwell was intentionally making a nod to their work, and instead using their existence as a single beacon of hope in what is ultimately one of the most despairing and dystopian works of its time.
